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Blockchain.com Launches Debit Card for U.S. Users

Blockchain.com Launches Debit Card for U.S. Users
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Blockchain, Daily news
  • Blockchain.com is launching a Visa debit card in partnership with Marqeta today.
  • The fee-free card enables users to spend their crypto balance or cash within their Blockchain.com wallet.
  • Blockchain.com counts 50,000 sign-ups for the card from users on its waitlist.

Cryptocurrency platform Blockchain.com is making it easier for users to transact using crypto from their Blockchain.com wallet. The company has released the Blockchain.com Visa debit card today, allowing U.S. users to spend their crypto balance or cash within their Blockchain.com wallet to pay for goods and services online or in person.

The new card does not charge fees and pays a reward of 1% back in crypto for all card purchases. Facilitating the launch are Visa, which provides the payment network, and Marqeta, which powers the card issuing process. Marqeta’s Just-in-Time Funding feature is key to Blockchain.com’s card launch. It enables users to spend from their available crypto balance while settling the transaction in fiat currency in the back end.

“As one of the crypto industry’s oldest and most trusted platforms, we’re excited to roll out the natural next step to make crypto easy to use in the real world and accessible to as many people as possible,” said Blockchain.com CEO and Co-Founder Peter Smith. “This is a prime example of digital assets making their mark on the existing financial services industry, as we shape the future of (mainstream) finance.”

At launch, Blockchain.com already has 50,000 sign-ups for the card from users on its waitlist. Once the rollout of the card in the U.S. is complete, Blockchain.com will make the card available to customers in more countries starting next year.

In launching a payment card tied to its crypto wallet, Blockchain.com joins its competitor Coinbase in this effort. The company initially launched a payment card in partnership with The Shift Card in 2015. However, after the debit card company closed up shop in 2019, Coinbase unveiled its own white-labeled Visa debit card issued by Pathward in 2020.

Blockchain.com was founded in 2011 and serves as a platform for users to buy, sell, hold, and trade cryptocurrencies. With 82 million crypto wallets, the company’s 37 million users have made transactions worth over $1 trillion to-date.

Blockchain.com has raised a total of $490 million in funding, including its most recent Series D round earlier this year that valued the company at $14 billion at the time.

Photo by Shubham Dhage on Unsplash

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Experian and Prove Team Up to Boost Financial Inclusion Worldwide

Experian and Prove Team Up to Boost Financial Inclusion Worldwide
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Experian
  • Experian announced a partnership with digital identity company Prove.
  • The partnership will integrate up to four Prove solutions into Experian’s digital identity and fraud risk mitigation platform, CrossCore.
  • Experian has been a Finovate alum since 2011. Earlier this month, the company announced a collaboration with U.K.-based NewDay.

A global partnership between information services company Experian and digital identity company Prove Identity is designed to help drive financial inclusion around the world via innovations in identity verification technology. The alliance, announced this week, will help companies bring their financial services to a wider range of customers, including members of un- and underbanked communities. The partnership will also enhance access to “faster, easier, and more secure experiences” for consumers.

As part of the deal, Prove will integrate a number of solutions into Experian’s digital identity and fraud risk mitigation platform, CrossCore. The specific integrations will vary by region, but include:

  • Prove Pre-Fill – enables auto-fill of application forms with verified data from authoritative sources
  • Prove Identity – validates consumer-provided personal identity information (PII)
  • Trust Score – provides a real-time assessment of phone number reputation for identity verification and authentication
  • Mobile Auth – provides real-time authentication of a consumer’s status on a mobile network

“At Prove, we believe that all consumers should have access to the digital economy, regardless of whether you already have a credit file or not,” Prove co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Rodger Desai said. “We’re proud to be partnering with Experian, which shares our vision for a more financially inclusive digital world. Together, we are giving more companies across the globe access to advanced identity technology, such as cryptographic authentication, that they can use to verify more consumers in a quick and secure manner.”

Prove specializes in verifying identities for members of un- and underbanked communities, many of whom have little or no traditional credit history. The company’s approach to verification leverages mobile phone-centric identity tokenization and passive cryptographic authentication to ensure security and privacy across digital channels while at the same time keeping friction low. More than 1,000 enterprises use Prove’s platform, processing 20 billion customer requests a year in industries ranging from banking and lending to crypto and payments.

“The rapid surge in demand for digital services and the growth of online accounts has accelerated the need for robust, real-time identity verification solutions with the broadest coverage and greatest inclusion,” Experian SVP of Global Identity & Fraud Marika Vilen said. “Integrating Prove’s industry-leading identity solutions with CrossCore and offering them as part of the CrossCore partner program strengthens our state-of-the-art cloud platform, identity verification, and fraud defense while also enabling our customers to verify more customers.”

A Finovate alum since 2011, Experian made its most recent Finovate appearance at FinovateFall in 2018. The company’s partnership announcement with Prove comes less than a week after Experian reported that it was working with U.K.-based unsecured credit provider NewDay. That partnership is geared toward helping Experian Boost customers access a broader array of credit options.

Be sure to join Experian next month for our webinar presentation, Digital Identity: Fintech’s Key to Unlocking Growth, featuring Chief Innovation Officer for Decision Analytics Kathleen Peters.

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich

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Investor Cash Management Brings Inclusive Finance to Delaware State University

Investor Cash Management Brings Inclusive Finance to Delaware State University
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Sponsored

This post is sponsored by Delaware Prosperity Partnership

  • Investor Cash Management (ICM) is working with Delaware State University to help the university promote financial wellness.
  • Among ICM’s other partners are BNY Mellon, PIMCO, Visa, Trusted Capital Group/HUB Financial, and the National Education Association.
  • Originally headquartered in Chicago, ICM relocated its headquarters and customer service center to Wilmington, Delaware last year.

Delaware-based Investor Cash Management (ICM) is on a mission to help investors of all stripes achieve their financial goals.

“We’re helping individuals build wealth by offering a better financial product that eliminates the fees, confusion and inaccessibility traditionally associated with investing,” said ICM CEO Fred Phillips. “We’re creating a community where everyone has equal access to quality investment funds, including those previously unavailable to many individuals.”

ICM develops API-based technology that links investor cash management accounts directly to both a bank account and a brokerage account. The company’s technology transforms investment products such as mutual funds, ETFs, and shares into digital currencies that users can transact with using a debit card, ATM, P2P transfer, and online bill pay. As a result, investors receive higher returns and immediate access to their bank and brokerage assets.

Among the company’s partners are BNY Mellon, PIMCO, Visa, Trusted Capital Group/HUB Financial, the National Education Association, and– most recently– Delaware State University (DSU), a Historically Black College or University. DSU is a good fit for ICM because of its focus on teaching financial literacy to its students and alumni. The University has integrated ICM’s financial wellness product into its existing financial literacy program.

“Investor Cash Management is proud to provide the technology that empowers Delaware State University to deliver actionable financial education and reduce persistent, pernicious gender and racial investment gaps,” said Phillips. “Through our mission-driven partnership to democratize investment, DSU’s program provides access to innovative financial services and a foundation to develop products that address important needs of the broader community.”

In another effort to back its mission of supporting underserved investors, ICM has partnered with The Chicago Network, an organization of prominent and influential female leaders whose purpose is to empower women to lead. The organization recently honored Delaware Lieutenant Governor Bethany Hall-Long and Illinois Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton for supporting the advancement of women leaders in business, finance and technology.

Launched in Chicago in 2018, ICM relocated its headquarters and customer service center to Wilmington, Delaware last year. The company expects to employ more than 400 people by the end of 2024. Backed by the founders of Morningstar and Ariel Investments, ICM has been listed by Capgemini and UBS as one of the world’s 10 leading fintech companies. Earlier this year, the company was selected for one of 20 inaugural PHL Inno Fire Awards.

Learn more about fintech in Delaware by visiting the Delaware Prosperity Partnership website or by contacting Becky Harrington, DPP’s vice president of Business Development, at bharrington@ChooseDelaware.com.

Photo by Alex Korolkoff on Unsplash

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PayPal Offers Passkey Authentication to Apple Users and Venmo Payments to Amazon Shoppers

PayPal Offers Passkey Authentication to Apple Users and Venmo Payments to Amazon Shoppers
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, PayPal, Venmo
  • PayPal will enable Apple users to log in to their accounts with passkeys rather than passwords.
  • PayPal also announced that Amazon had authorized Venmo as a payment option.
  • PayPal made its Finovate debut more than a decade ago at FinovateSpring 2011.

Two days in and it’s already been a pretty good week for PayPal.

On Monday, the payments innovator announced that it had teamed up with Apple. The partnership will enable Apple users to log in to their accounts using a passkey rather than a password. Developed by the FIDO Alliance and the World Wide Web Consortium – along with Apple, Google, and Microsoft – passkeys use cryptographic key pairs. These key pairs consist of a public key that is stored in the cloud and a private key that is stored on the users’ device.

This authentication method has a number of advantages. The fact that the keys are separated means that if a cyberattack compromises a given server, the attacker will not be able to access account credentials. It also makes it harder for individuals to share authentication data between different platforms – a significant challenge for password-based systems, as companies like Netflix have learned.

The passkeys are available for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users. PayPal says that it will bring passkeys to other platforms as support is available. U.S. customers will be able to use the passkeys this week. Other markets likely will be able to access the technology early next year.

Today, PayPal added to its roster of Big Tech partners with news that Amazon will enable its customers in the U.S. to pay with Venmo on both Amazon.com and on its mobile app. Available to “select Amazon customers” today, the ability to pay with Venmo will be available to all customers in the U.S. by Black Friday – November 25th, the notorious shopping day after Thanksgiving.

Launched as a free service in 2009 and owned by PayPal since 2013, Venmo traditionally has been a convenient way for friends and family to transfer funds to each other. Last year, Venmo facilitated $230 billion in transactions. But increasingly, merchants ranging from Shopify to Lululemon have embraced the popular payment solution as a way to pay for retail goods and services. With today’s announcement, Amazon users will be able to add their Venmo accounts as an Amazon payment option and to select Venmo as their payment preference at checkout.

“We want to offer customers payment options that are convenient, easy to use, and secure – and there’s no better time for that than the busy holiday season,” Amazon Worldwide Payments VP Max Bardon said. “Whether it’s paying with cash, buying now and paying later, or now paying via Venmo, our goal is to meet the needs and preferences of every Amazon customer.”

Venmo Purchase Protection is available on all eligible transactions. Amazon’s A-to-Z Guarantee applies as well in the event of an issue with an order. Nearly 90 million consumers in the U.S. actively use Venmo.

Finovate audiences were introduced to Venmo in 2013 by Braintree. The company bought Venmo the previous year for $26 million, and demoed its Venmo Touch solution at FinovateSpring 2013. Braintree was acquired by PayPal later that year for $800 million. PayPal made its own Finovate debut at FinovateSpring in 2011.

Photo by Brett Jordan

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Marqeta Launches Suite of Banking Products

Marqeta Launches Suite of Banking Products
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Marqeta
  • Card issuance company Marqeta is launching a suite of banking products for its clients to offer their end customers.
  • Marqeta for Banking is comprised of seven banking products made available through Marqeta’s banking partners.
  • The new tools include Demand Deposit Accounts, Direct Deposit with Early Pay, ACH with Plaid Integration, Cash Loads, and Fee-Free ATMs, which are now available to Marqeta’s U.S. customers. Bill Pay and Instant Funding will be available in beta early next year.

Marqeta announced today that it is expanding further into the banking world beyond card issuance. The California-based company unveiled a suite of seven banking products through what it’s calling Marqeta for Banking.

Marqeta for Banking offers the company’s businesses customers access to more than 40 banking APIs that enable them to create customized banking services. The capabilities are made available through Marqeta’s banking partners and include Demand Deposit Accounts, Direct Deposit with Early Pay, ACH with Plaid Integration, Cash Loads, Fee-Free ATMs, Bill Pay, and Instant Funding capabilities.

“Consumers increasingly expect their financial services to be digital-first and mobile friendly, delivered by a brand they trust,” said Marqeta Founder and CEO Jason Gardner. “This is especially true for a rising generation of consumers who are less likely to have visited a physical bank branch or use a plastic card, and will instead begin their banking relationship on a mobile phone, which is doubling as a payment tool. Marqeta for Banking is fully designed to help customers meet the needs of today’s changing behaviors while building products for tomorrow’s consumer.”

Marqeta for Banking includes:

  1. Demand Deposit Accounts are tied to a debit card and are offered by an FDIC-insured institution. These accounts offer higher spend limits and no maximum balances.
  2. Direct Deposit and Early Pay is an earned wage access tool that enables users to receive their paycheck up to two days early.
  3. ACH with Plaid integration enables ACH payments between bank accounts.
  4. Cash Loads allow end users to deposit cash into their account at more than 180,000 retail locations. The deposited funds are available immediately in the user’s account.
  5. Fee-Free ATMs enable Marqeta customers to provide access to fee-free ATMs via the Allpoint and MoneyPass networks.
  6. Bill Pay will enable end users to pay their bills from within the app.
  7. Instant Funding will enable end users to instantly fund their accounts using an external debit or prepaid card.

All but the last two products in the Marqeta for Banking suite are available in the U.S. The beta versions of Bill Pay and Instant Funding will launch early next year. A handful of customers are already leveraging elements of Marqeta for Banking, including Coinbase, Branch, and Fold.

Marqeta’s card issuing platform enables its clients to manage their own card programs by creating configurable and flexible payment tools as well as customizing payment cards for their end customers. The company was founded in 2010 and is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ under the ticker MQ. Marqeta has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion.

Photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash

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SKU Data Network Company Banyan Secures $43 Million in Series A Funding

SKU Data Network Company Banyan Secures $43 Million in Series A Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, BANYAN, Daily news, Funding
  • SKU data network company Banyan raised $43 million in Series A funding.
  • The round consisted of $28 million in equity and $15 million in venture debt, and gives the company a total of $53 million in equity funding.
  • Banyan made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall 2021 in New York, and returned to the Finovate stage this year for FinovateSpring in San Francisco.

In a round led by Fin Capital and M13, SKU data network company Banyan has raised $43 million in funding. The Series A round includes $28 million in equity and $15 million in venture debt, taking the total equity capital raised by Banyan to $53 million. In addition to Fin Capital and M13, the round featured participation from FIS Impact Ventures, Bridge Bank, Interplay, and TTV Capital.

The financing will be used to help accelerate Banyan’s technology and infrastructure growth. Banyan enables retailers and financial institutions to leverage enriched, item-level data capabilities to boost consumer engagement and financial wellness, as well as improve business expense management. The company offers the world’s largest SKU data network, which helps “unlock a new world of valuable information in the form of item-level receipt data,” according to Banyan founder and CEO Jehan Luth. Luth added that the funding was “evidence of market validation for Banyan as the first to deliver the next level of Precise Commerce applications to merchants and financial services.”

Banyan’s network is used by both Fortune 150 corporations as well as convenience stores. The company’s solution suite enables dramatic reductions in the time spent on expense reports by integrating item-level purchase data into banking and expense management apps. Banyan’s technology also provides shopping and loyalty offers that help merchants and their partners better target the offering of incentives, keying on the specific item, category, and aisle-level categories they want to reward. Fin Capital founder and managing partner Logan Allin said that Banyan’s solutions help businesses “re-imagine the experiences they can bring to consumers.”

Banyan demonstrated its Enrich solution at FinovateSpring earlier this year. At the conference, Banyan showed how its technology enables banks, fintechs, and their retail partners to use item level data to drive both everyday spending and top of wallet behavior. Relying on both API calls for individual transactions and batch calls for unlimited records, Banyan’s at-scale network lets retailers share receipt data with banks and fintechs to make financial apps more impactful for the digitally-oriented financial services customer.

Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Holmdel, New Jersey, Banyan has processed more than $400 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), more than 10.3 billion in bank and fintech partner transactions, and more than 10.4 billion in purchase receipts from network retailers. The company also has more than four million UPCs catalogued in its network.

Earlier this year, Banyan introduced new Chief Marketing Officer Andrea Gilman, formerly SVP with Mastercard. This spring, Banyan announced a rebrand – including a new logo and a website refresh – to reflect what Luth called the company’s “defined path to disrupt and change the retail landscape while bringing new benefits to consumers.”

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

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The Conversation Continues: Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast with FV Bank, Daylight, Microsoft and More!

The Conversation Continues: Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast with FV Bank, Daylight, Microsoft and More!
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: David's column, Podcasting

In addition to hosting the biggest FinovateFall to date, Finovate VP Greg Palmer has spent the month of September talking with some of the most interesting achievers in fintech. From CEOs of digital banks to entrepreneurs working to bring about greater financial inclusion, Greg Palmer’s Finovate Podcast is a great way to meet the people who are driving innovation in our industry.

Below is a rundown of recent episodes from late August through September.

Find the Finovate podcast at Soundcloud and follow Greg Palmer on Twitter for the latest in programming news and updates.

Miles Paschini, Chief Executive Officer, FV Bank

Finovate Podcast host Greg Palmer sits down with Miles Paschini to discuss FV Bank’s mission to serve fintechs and bring new technologies to the mainstream. Episode 147.

“The regulated segment of the industry was not matching up to the creator side of the industry … FV stands for Fintech Ventures Bank and the purpose of developing FV Bank was so that we could create a regulated banking environment where fintech creators would have a place to work with people who were really there to help them grow their business as opposed to keep(ing) them out.”

Suneera Madhani, CEO and Founder, Stax Payments

Suneera Madhani of Stax Payments and Greg Palmer talk about the challenges of building a more inclusive fintech ecosystem. Episode 146.

“I learned very quickly that men are actually given investment for their potential, while women are given investment for what they’ve done. That’s definitely been one of my biggest lessons. And the stats are also horrendous. You know, we’re in 2022 and less than 3% of the venture capital still just goes to women in general, less than 1% to minorities.”

Roman Chwyl, Managing Director Fintech Unicorns, Microsoft; Paul Walker, SVP, Revenue and Partnerships, Helix

Greg Palmer talks about the power of partnerships to help bring financial services to the unbanked and underbanked with Microsoft’s Roman Chwyl and Helix’s Paul Walker. Episode 145.

“Currently we’re helping several brands together, like Acorns, Credit Karma, Gusto … These are all brands that have real scale and are focused on (underserved) segments. One of my key goals today is just to make real impact and change, and (talk about) how Helix and Microsoft can share our partnership story and work with other companies out there looking to do the same.”

Brad Oberwager, Executive Chair, Linden Lab

Brad Oberwager of Linden Lab discusses virtual worlds and virtual economies with podcast host Greg Palmer. Episode 144.

“Linden Lab was started a long time ago, and is actually the parent company of Second Life, which is the sort of OG metaverse. You’ve heard a lot of talk about the metaverse and virtual worlds. Second Life was the first one that really created an economy … A guy named Philip Rosedale, who happens to be one of my closest friends, came up with the idea. Building a virtual world.”

Billie Simmons, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Daylight

Billie Simmons of LGBTQ-supporting digital bank Daylight and Finovate podcast host Greg Palmer talk about supporting customers and enabling them to live their best lives. Episode 143.

“It’s an incredibly expensive, time-consuming, potentially dangerous process to get your name and gender updated across all of your banking services. You have to go to court. You have to get documents notarized. You have to out yourself multiple times as trans … I just realized through talking about these things that we can do so much better. That’s really how Daylight was born.”

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Digital Bank Nerve’s New Strategic Partnership Comes with Up to $7 Million in New Funds

Digital Bank Nerve’s New Strategic Partnership Comes with Up to $7 Million in New Funds
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • Digital bank for creatives, Nerve, is partnering with London-based Talenthouse, a firm that helps artists find work with global brands.
  • Talenthouse’s money management platform, TalentPlus, will leverage Nerve’s embedded banking technology to expand into the U.S.
  • To facilitate TalentPlus’ U.S. launch, Talenthouse will invest up to $7 million in cash and shares in Nerve.

Digital bank Nerve is furthering its reach this month via a partnership with Talenthouse, a London-based firm that helps creatives find work with global brands. Under the agreement, Talenthouse will leverage Nerve to launch a business banking solution for TalentPlus, its in-house financial app built for creators.

As part of the deal, Talenthouse will invest up to $7 million in cash and shares in Nerve. This partnership and investment will help Talenthouse launch TalentPlus in the U.S. next month and expand into the U.K. and Latin America in 2023.

“This is a significant step into the U.S. market for Talenthouse,” said Talenthouse CEO Clare McKeeve. “We plan to recreate this financial services model across several markets in the near future including the UK and Latin America. We have been incredibly impressed by and have huge confidence in the Nerve team, underlined by our significant strategic investment.”

Money management platform TalentPlus was launched in 2021 from a pilot program called ElloU. The platform seeks to offer participants in the creator economy banking tools that support their needs in ways that banks fall short. The company’s partnership with Nerve will enable it to add personal banking tools to its product lineup.

This aligns closely with Nerve’s offerings. The digital bank was launched in 2020 to serve the unique financial needs of musicians, artists, and other creatives. The Texas-based company’s mission is to help creators build sustainable businesses by lowering the cost for organizations to pay creators. Nerve’s partnership with Talenthouse marks the first time its embedded banking tools will be used on a private-label basis.

“We are super excited about collaborating with Talenthouse and the TalentPlus team to drive innovation for creative businesses and delivering financial services to an underserved community,” said Nerve CEO John Waupsh. “This partnership will expand our payments and banking services to Talenthouse’s U.S.-based creators, dramatically improving the financial services available to the creator economy.”

Photo by Brett Sayles

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Mitek Launches Biometric ID Technology Combining Face and Voice Authentication

Mitek Launches Biometric ID Technology Combining Face and Voice Authentication
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Mitek
  • Mitek launched its new biometric authentication solution, MiPass, that leverages both voice and facial recognition.
  • The new technology provides advantages over both passwords and solutions that rely on on-device stored biometrics.
  • Mitek’s MiPass can be deployed in a range of use cases ranging from simple password resets to high-value transactions.

Could the end of passwords finally be at hand?

Identity verification innovator Mitek has launched a new solution designed to enable individuals to access digital accounts easily and securely by leveraging facial and voice recognition technology together. MiPass, unveiled today, offers a passwordless identity authentication solution that only requires a selfie and a recorded phrase to provide a level of convenience and security greater than that provided by authentication solutions based on face- or voice-recognition alone.

“MiPass provides the highest level of digital security available today,” Mitek CTO Steve Ritter said. “MiPass combines voice and face recognition using sophisticated liveness detection technology to defend against digital and deepfake attacks in real time.”

Using MiPass to authenticate digital identity also poses less risk than other solutions that rely on on-device stored biometrics, which Mitek states can be compromised, shared, or even overwritten. Additionally, MiPass’ algorithms have been tested against balanced and representative data sets to avoid bias. As such, the technology accurately authenticates users regardless of age, gender, or ethnicity. Mitek also offers a developer-friendly SDK to make it easy for companies to embed MiPass for use cases ranging from account information updates and password resets to high-risk financial transactions.

“Companies care about their customers’ trust and security more than anything,” Mitek Head of Product Chris Briggs said. “Mitek understands this. That’s why we focus all our attention on bringing products to market that enable trusted online access. People are most loyal to companies that offer both convenience and security. That’s where MiPass excels.”

A Finovate alum for more than a decade, Mitek most recently demonstrated its technology on the Finovate stage at FinovateFall 2017. In the years since then, the company has grown into a digital access leader trusted by 99% of U.S. banks for mobile check deposits and 7,500 of the world’s largest organizations.

Earlier this year, Mitek acquired fellow Finovate alum HooYu for $110 million (£‎98 million). The acquisition came a year after Mitek had purchased another fellow Finovate alum, ID R&D, for $49 million. This summer, the company reported record revenues for the fiscal third quarter, with a 24% year over year gain, and announced the launch of its Mitek Verified Identity Platform (MiVIP).

Headquartered in San Diego, California, and founded in 1985, Mitek is a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ under the ticker MITK. The firm has a market capitalization of $456 million.

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Transparency, Governance, and Credit Scoring: A Conversation with VantageScore’s Rikard Bandebo

Transparency, Governance, and Credit Scoring: A Conversation with VantageScore’s Rikard Bandebo
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Interview, Speaker series

We are all familiar with the challenge businesses have when it comes to new customers. On the one hand, there is an urge to onboard as many new customers as possible. On the other hand, great care must be taken to block bad actors or, in the case of the lending business, to avoid borrowers who are unlikely to repay their loans.

To help companies manage this tug-of-war, innovators in the credit scoring space have developed new strategies for determining credit-worthiness. These new approaches have moved beyond traditional credit scoring to help lenders reach reliable borrowers who may have thin credit histories – or even no significant, traditional credit history at all.

VantageScore is one such innovator. This year at FinovateFall, we caught up with Rikard Bandebo, VantageScore Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer to talk about the company’s approach to credit scoring, how it differs from traditional credit scoring methods, and how fintechs can leverage VantageScore’s technology discover more “newly lendable” customers.

Below are a few excerpts from our conversation:

On making credit scoring more accurate and more inclusive

We went back to the drawing board in a way to look at what we could do to make these models much more accurate and inclusive. In doing so we started looking at ways we could look at the data on the credit file. We began using what’s called trended data and found, in doing so, we were able to improve the accuracy of the model significantly. It’s probably one of the most accurate, if not the most accurate, generic model that’s been widely adopted.

Secondly, we also found that by using this type of data we got much more consistent scores for consumers over time. There’s nothing quite as frustrating for consumers and lenders (than) when their scores go up and down a lot over time. So this provides a much smoother transition throughout a consumer’s history.

And the third piece is that we were able to massively improve our inclusion with this latest model. We score about 37 million more consumers than traditional generic models that are out there – out of which more than 10 million are above 620.

On transitioning to VantageScore from other credit scoring providers.

First and foremost, we are a very transparent credit scoring company. We provide a lot of transparency into how our models work (and) what impacts different activities have on our models. We also have built out great support services around migration and also around governance. We do a lot to make it as easy as possible for both fintechs and lenders to make a transition.

On VantageScore’s reputation in the capital markets and among ratings agencies.

We recently had FTI Consulting conduct a study where they went out and interviewed and tried to understand what the appetite was like in the broader market, what they were looking for. One of the common feedbacks they found was that, like other markets, they’re looking for more competition, and they’re looking for the best models that they can use to understand the impact of different types of consumers on risk.

We’ve actually seen a big uptake in VantageScore being used in general, and we’re seeing now a growing appetite in the securitization markets. We’ve seen some very large lenders transition to now offering their securities based on VantageScore.

Watch the full interview on Finovate TV.

Photo by Pixabay

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Envestnet Goes Live with its Wealth Data Platform Powered by Snowflake

Envestnet Goes Live with its Wealth Data Platform Powered by Snowflake
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Envestnet
  • Envestnet launched its Wealth Data Platform this week.
  • Powered by Snowflake, Envestnet’s enhanced platform gives financial advisors a more comprehensive view of clients’ finances
  • Envestnet made its Finovate debut in 2016 at FinovateEurope, one year after acquiring Yodlee for $660 million.

With the launch of its Wealth Data Platform this week, Envestnet has enhanced its data and analytics business by providing financial advisors with the ability to connect and enrich data – as well as give clients actionable data at scale – via a single platform. The new offering is powered by data cloud company Snowflake, and will enable Envestnet customers to benefit from a more holistic, comprehensive view of their clients’ financial information.

“Our Wealth Data Platform solves the very real challenge wealth advisors face in connecting, analyzing, and deriving insights from their clients’ various data sources,” Envestnet Data and Analytics Group President Farouk Ferchichi said. “And we know this is important for clients; our research shows that for a majority of Americans, financial technology and apps are key to achieving their financial goals.”

“By partnering with Snowflake, our Wealth Data Platform will become more holistic and allow advisors to better serve their clients,” Ferchichi said.

Envestnet’s enhanced solution improves data access and efficiency, enabling research and analytics teams to access multiple capabilities such as valuation, client aggregations, advisor analytics, and more on one platform. Customers will be able to leverage outside data, as well, combining, normalizing, and enriching that data along with other data sets available on the Envestnet platform. By partnering with Snowflake, the platform “will help transform the way wealth professionals advise and interact with their customers,” according to Snowflake Global Head of Financial Services Rinesh Patel.

Envestnet’s Wealth Data Platform adds to the company’s suite of data, digital solutions, and differentiated experiences known as Envestnet Data and Analytics. Through both APIs and standalone portals, Envestnet’s solutions help its clients – which include financial advisors as well as small and medium-sized businesses and their customers – better grow and manage the financial wellness of their businesses.

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, Envestnet made its Finovate debut eight years ago at FinovateEurope in London – just one year after the company acquired Finovate alum Yodlee for $660 million. In the years since, Envestnet has provided technology and services to more than 105,000 advisors and more than 6,500 companies. This figure includes 16 of the 20 largest banks in the U.S., 47 of the 50 largest wealth management and brokerage firms, more than 500 of the largest registered investment advisors (RIAs) – as well as hundreds of fintechs.

In addition to the launch of its Wealth Data Platform, Envestnet also recently announced a partnership between Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and its Data and Analytics business. The agreement calls for TCS to help Envestnet Data and Analytics scale internationally. Earlier this month, Envestnet unveiled its Intelligent Financial Life Advisor Practice Score, which helps financial advisors learn how effectively they are helping clients “achieve peace of mind and financial security” while on the journey to reach their financial goals.

“Our mission has always been to help advisors make sense of their clients’ overall financial picture and empower them to take the advice they give – and their practice – to the next level,” Envestnet Chief Marketing Officer Mary Ellen Dugan said. “This assessment provides advisors with a way to understand how well they’re positioned to help clients navigate their complex financial lives – through their day-to-day and more long-term financial decisions.”

Photo by Jill Wellington

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N26 Taps Bitpanda to Add In-App Crypto Trading

N26 Taps Bitpanda to Add In-App Crypto Trading
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Challenger bank N26 is launching N26 Crypto, an in-app cryptocurrency trading tool.
  • The company is partnering with Bitpanda for trading and custody of the 194 cryptocurrencies that will be available on its platform by the end of the year.
  • N26 Crypto is launching today in Austria and will be available in more countries in the next six months.

In what N26 is calling the company’s “next step beyond banking,” the Germany-based digital bank is unveiling N26 Crypto, an in-app cryptocurrency trading tool. Launching today in Austria, eligible clients can buy and sell 100 cryptocurrencies using the N26 app.

“The N26 banking experience has always been built around the customers’ needs, with features that make money management easy,” said N26 Chief Product Officer Gilles BianRosa. “With N26 Crypto we have created a simple, intuitive product that integrates seamlessly into N26’s fully-regulated banking experience where one’s bank balance, savings, and investment portfolio sit side by side – with cryptocurrencies being the first asset class we intend to offer.”

Customers can access the new capability from the “Trading” section within the N26 app’s new “Finances” tab. N26 created a drag-and-drop interface that makes it easy for users to instantly buy and sell crypto. After selecting the coin and the amount they would like to trade, N26 deducts the cash equivalent of the trade from their bank balance and the crypto shows up in their N26 Crypto portfolio instantly. Funds from crypto sales also show up in real time.

N26 Crypto is launching with 100 currencies, and plans to scale up to offer 194 by the end of this year. If you’re not impressed with N26 offering 100 cryptocurrencies at launch, you should be. Most fintechs launch with just two or three cryptocurrencies and add more slowly over time. The large number of cryptocurrencies is thanks in large part to N26’s partnership with Bitpanda, which will manage the execution of trades and custody of coins.

The Bitpanda partnership isn’t only helping N26 scale in terms of cryptocurrencies. The investment platform is also helping N26 offer clients competitive rates. N26 Metal customers face a 1% transaction fee when trading Bitcoin and 2% for all other cryptocurrencies. Other N26 customers will see a 1.5% transaction fee for Bitcoin, and a 2.5% fee for other cryptocurrencies.

N26 Crypto is launching in Austria today, and will be made available to eligible customers in more geographical regions over the next six months.

Founded in 2013 and launched in 2015, N26 now counts more than eight million customers in 24 countries. Well-known in the European market, N26 ranks among the top five highest-valued challenger banks wth a valuation of more than $9 billion. In 2019, the digital bank launched in the U.S., but decided to exit the region in order to focus on its European market operations.

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