Inovatec Partners with Real-Time Risk Decisioning Specialist Provenir

Inovatec Partners with Real-Time Risk Decisioning Specialist Provenir
  • Provenir announced a new partnership with Inovatec Systems.
  • The partnership will enable auto lenders on Inovatec’s LOS platform to access Provenir’s risk decisioning solutions
  • Headquartered in New Jersey, Provenir has forged partnerships with TransUnion, Kueski, and Provu in recent months.

Real-time risk decisioning software company Provenir announced a new partner today. The Parsippany, New Jersey-based technology company has inked a deal with Canadian lending software firm Inovatec Systems that will give Inovatec’s roster of automobile lenders new tools to improve the financing process.

“Inovatec’s configurable loan origination and loan management solutions efficiently support third party solutions that improve the speed, reliability, and efficiency of the entire lending process,” Inovatec Head of Business Development Bob Metodiev said. Courtesy of the new relationship, auto financing companies working with Inovatec will be able to leverage open APIs to access Provenir’s AI-powered decisioning solutions – which are embedded into Inovatec’s LOS platform. Combined with Provenir’s technology, the enhanced solution will help lenders make smarter automated decisions while providing an optimal experience for the customer.

“Through the unique combination of universal access to data, simplified AI and world-class decisioning technology, Provenir provides a cohesive risk ecosystem that enables organizations to make smarter decisions instantly across the entire customer lifecycle,” Provenir EVP for North America Kathy Stares said.

Provenir offers a data, AI, and decisioning platform that leverages the cloud and no-code technology to enable businesses to build advanced decisioning workflows, integrate any data source, and deploy AI and machine learning models. The technology is applicable to a wide variety of contexts – from BNPL, SME lending, and auto financing, to retail POS lending, digital merchant onboarding, and bank loan origination.

Founded in 2004, Provenir was a Gold sponsor of FinovateEurope earlier this year, where the company’s Carol Hamilton, SVP of Global Solutions, spoke as part of a panel on “Achieving Digital Acceleration – What Do Incumbents Need to Do?” In the months since then, the company has announced partnerships with TransUnion, Mexico-based lender Kueski, and its first Brazilian customer, payments and personal credit fintech Provu. Provenir also announced today that it is expanding its presence in Spain. Join Provenir’s Corinne Llelti next week for a special digital presentation exclusive to Finovate – “Driving World Class SME Lending Experiences.”


Photo by Pixabay

CNote Raises $7.25 Million in Series A Funding Round to Help Boost ESG Investing

CNote Raises $7.25 Million in Series A Funding Round to Help Boost ESG Investing
  • CNote closed $7.25 million in Series A funding.
  • The round was led by American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact.
  • The investment brings CNote’s total funding to almost $15.5 million.

Investment platform CNote raised $7.25 million today in a round that boosted the company’s total funds to almost $15.5 million.

The Series A round was led by American Family Insurance Institute for Corporate and Social Impact. Astia Fund, BankTech Ventures, Commerce Ventures, CityRock Venture Partners, and other investors also contributed. 

The company plans to use the funds to advance its technology, expand its sales team, and deepen its network of community financial institutions.

CNote was founded in 2016 to close the wealth gap by enabling investors to invest in an economy that works for all populations, especially those in underserved communities. Using the CNote platform, corporations, institutions, and individuals can invest in fixed-income and time deposit products that are vetted to help advance economic equality, racial justice, gender equity, and climate change adaptation. When an investor places funds into CNote, the company directs the money into deposit and loan products through its network of over 2,000 ESG-focused community financial institutions.

“We’re addressing a massive systemic problem with a market-friendly platform that has already been adopted by forward-thinking corporations and other institutions,” said CNote CEO and Founder Catherine Berman. “By pumping hundreds of millions of dollars into undercapitalized communities, CNote is activating corporate dollars for systemic change while minimizing risk.”

Seeing an investment in an ESG-focused company is not surprising, despite the current funding dry spell taking place across the fintech industry. End consumers are more hungry for ESG-related products than ever, and the industry has been struggling to keep up with demand in this arena. We can expect to see more funding go toward companies touting ESG missions in the latter half of this year.


Photo by David Alberto Carmona Coto

FinovateFall 2022: Three Takeaways from Finovate’s Biggest Show to Date

FinovateFall 2022: Three Takeaways from Finovate’s Biggest Show to Date

FinovateFall 2022 ended last week. If you were there, then thanks for helping make the conference our largest, and most well-attended yet.

And if you were not there, then we’ve got good news and better news for you. The good news is that we’re sharing some of the mainstage highlights from FinovateFall 2022 below. The better news is that we’re going to do it all over again next year — so stay tuned!

You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat

Whether the enabling force is a technology or a partnership, one big takeaway from the conversations on Day One of FinovateFall 2022 was this: it is critical for financial institutions to take advantage of the resources – technological and organizational – outside of their immediate purview in order to compete, grow, and thrive.

In the morning, with presentations from Apiture’s Chris Cox and InterSystems’ Joe Lichtenberg, the emphasis was on enabling technologies that empower financial institutions to turn data into business insights. Jody Bhagat of Personetics showed how even mid-sized banks can leverage the combination of human talent and digital technology to provide superior customer service and solutions like advanced money management.

In the afternoon, our mainstage speakers turned their attention to the transformative power of good partnerships. As a theme that would extend into Day Two, forging productive partnerships between fintechs and financial institutions is a challenge that smart companies are more than willing to meet. Our Power Panel, featuring financial services professionals from Seattle Bank, Partnership Fund for New York City, FTV Capital, TD Bank Group, and Experian, showed why and how banks and fintechs can move from competition to collaboration and co-creation.

FinovateFall Best of Show winner Debbie during its live demo on stage in New York.

Getting It Done — The Right Way

If Day One of FinovateFall articulated the opportunity that exists for banks and fintechs, Day Two was all about helping them seize it. Experian’s Greg Wright led off in the morning with a discussion on how companies can maximize their successful innovation initiatives. Cornerstone Advisors’ Sam Kilmer followed-up with words of wisdom to help fintech companies seal more and better deals faster with financial institutions eager to supercharge their offerings with new fintech solutions.

In the afternoon, the discussion shifted to the new rules of engagement when it comes to customers and “future-proofing” innovation. Led by Beyond the Arc’s Steven Ramirez, our Power Panel on Customer Experience examined the new landscape in which banks thought of more as apps than as brick and mortar businesses. With experts from Oak HC/FT, Dave, Fidelity Investments, and Quavo, the panel showed how personalization, gamification, and visualization are key elements in the contemporary customer engagement strategy.

And speaking of “the right way”, VantageScore’s Rikard Bandebo shared insights into new tools to help financial institutions engage with “newly lendable’ customers and promote financial inclusion. Pointing out the differing impact of credit scoring models on different communities and demographics, Bandebo explained how new analytic approaches can empower both lenders and borrowers.

What We Learned from Best of Show

Our Best of Show award is more than a great opportunity for our attendees to reward those fintech innovators whose technologies they believe are most likely to make a big difference. The awards also serve as an excellent heat check on the latest developments from some of the world’s most innovative fintech companies and entrepreneurs.

Two of the companies to take home Best of Show trophies from FinovateFall 2022 are innovators that have proven their mettle before. Horizn, with its platform that maximizes the impact of digital transformation, is a five-time Finovate Best of Show winner. LemonadeLXP earned a Finovate Best of Show award back in 2019 for its Launchfire employee and customer engagement solution. Notice a theme? For one, both companies are great representatives of the fintech innovation taking place in Canada – Horizn is headquartered in Toronto, LemonadeLXP is based in Ottawa. For two, both Horizn and LemonadeLXP are examples of companies innovating in the critical second step in digital transformation: the challenge of turning “front line staff into digital experts” and driving “mass adoption of new platforms and digital capabilities” for customers and employees alike.

Hats off to our other Best of Show winners, as well – including Themis, Quilo, and Debbie, each of which won Best of Show last week in their Finovate debuts. And the second time was certainly the charm for New York-based data insights and analysis firm Stratyfy, which won Best of Show last week in its second trip to the Finovate stage. The company’s UnBias technology underscores the role that technology companies will play in helping financial institutions and fintechs to find and undo the bias that undermines fair and equitable policies and practices.

Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing

If there is a third takeaway from FinovateFall worth sharing here, it is this one: there ain’t nothing like a live, in-person fintech conference. And while there may be some events that do not feel much different to the average attendee regardless of whether the presentations are in-person or digital, the same cannot be said of Finovate, the so-called “DisneyLand of Fintech.” From the edge-of-your-seat excitement (and, sometimes, anxiety) during a live on-stage fintech demo to the must-see-it-to-believe-it antics of our Finovate Fintech Fight Club combatants to a fully-packed networking hall, Finovate is a people thing. And when events like ours help put the right people together, who knows what kind of magic our attendees, speakers, demoing companies, and sponsors will create?


Photo by Albin Berlin

Novatti Group Turns to ThetaRay to Enhance AML Oversight of Global Payments

Novatti Group Turns to ThetaRay to Enhance AML Oversight of Global Payments
  • Novatti Group has partnered with transaction monitoring company ThetaRay.
  • Novatti will deploy ThetaRay’s SONAR technology to defend its global payments business from money laundering and other financial crime.
  • A Finovate alum since 2015, ThetaRay has secured partnerships with companies ranging from Travelex Bank to fellow Finovate alum Payoneer.

Business payments enabler Novatti Group has partnered with AI-powered transaction monitoring specialist ThetaRay to defend its global payments operations against money laundering and other financial crimes. Novatti Group will deploy ThetaRay’s SaaS-based SONAR technology, a solution that leverages AI to detect the earliest indications of money laundering activity. SONAR will monitor hundreds of thousands of transactions a year for Novatti Group, enabling the company to ensure that its processed transactions are fraud-free without sacrificing quality of service.

Group GM of Risk, Legal, and Compliance at Novatti Group Evangelia Pefkou said the company selected ThetaRay for both its efficient technology as well as its ability to scale. “It is a true AI-based solution that effectively prevents financial crime – including unknown and hidden money laundering – with high detection rates and low false positives,” Pefkou said.

Headquartered in Israel, ThetaRay made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in 2015. In the years since then, the company has brought its transaction monitoring technology to partners including Travelex Bank, PMI Americas, Qolo, as well as fellow Finovate alum Payoneer. ThetaRay’s combination of AI and machine learning has resulted in a transaction monitoring solution that delivers a 50% boost in efficiency, 99% reduction in false positives, and 100% coverage for all known money laundering risks. The company’s technology has enabled businesses to confidently partner with entities in countries and segments that are considered high-risk.

“SONAR detects even the newest and most sophisticated criminal schemes,” ThetaRay CEO Mark Gazit said. “Novatti will be able to simultaneously establish new relationships to grow global business, increase revenues, and improve customer service.”

Founded in 2013, ThetaRay has raised more than $112 million in funding from investors such as Jerusalem Venture Partners, Benhamou Global Ventures, and ABN AMRO Ventures.


Photo by ThisIsEngineering

Congrats to the 2022 Finovate Awards Winners!

Congrats to the 2022 Finovate Awards Winners!

The 2022 Finovate Awards winners have been unveiled! At a gala dinner and ceremony, we celebrated the 23 winners.

The evening kicked off with cocktails, followed by dinner and entertainment. Below are the winning companies and individuals in each category, listed in alphabetical order.

Drumroll please…

  • Best Alternative Investments Solution: CAIS
  • Best Back-Office / Core-Service Solution: Maxwell Financial Labs
  • Best BNPL Solution: Kueski Pay
  • Best Consumer Lending Solution: Wisetack
  • Best Customer Experience Solution: BTG
  • Best Digital Bank: UOB TMRW
  • Best Embedded Finance Solution: Grabango
  • Best Enterprise Payments Solution: Airbase
  • Best Financial Mobile App: UOB TMRW
  • Best Fintech Accelerator/Incubator: BMO InnoV8
  • Best Fintech Partnership: TAB Bank and Bumped
  • Best ID Management Solution: norbloc
  • Best Insurtech Solution: Parametrix
  • Best Mobile Payments Solution: Papara
  • Best RegTech Solution: Socure
  • Best SMB/SME Banking Solution: QuickFi
  • Best Wealth Management Solution: Titan
  • Excellence in Decentralized Finance: SoLo Funds
  • Excellence in Financial Inclusion: Gusto
  • Excellence in Sustainability: Oportun
  • Executive of the Year: Johnny Ayers, Socure
  • Innovator of the Year: Sarah Walker, RibbonHub
  • Top Emerging Fintech Company: Gr4vy

Each of these companies joins our Finovate Winners Circle.

Thanks to everyone for participating! We’re already looking forward to next September when we’ll once again host the awards in New York City. Nominations for the 2023 Finovate Awards will open in the spring of next year. If you’re interested, please email awards@finovate.com.

For more information on our judges and selection process, check out our blog post describing the awards.

FinovateFall 2022 Best of Show Winners Announced

FinovateFall 2022 Best of Show Winners Announced

With hundreds of ballots officially cast and carefully counted – here are the winners of Best of Show for FinovateFall 2022!

Debbie for its technology that leverages behavioral psychology and rewards to help users pay off 3x more debt and help lenders recession-proof members. Demo.

Horizn for its platform that helps financial institutions maximize the impact of digital and accelerate returns on digital investments with customers and employees. Demo.

LemonadeLXP for its digital growth platform that helps financial institutions and fintechs turn staff into digital experts and support digital customers. Demo.

Quilo for its technology that empowers lenders to digitally syndicate an individual personal loan at the time of underwriting, enabling them to provide more loans to more people. Demo.

Stratyfy for its technology that increases access to financial services by bringing true transparency and less risk to critical financial decisions that impact millions. Demo.

Themis for its collaboration platform designed for risk and compliance requirements to help accelerate partnerships between banks and fintechs. Demo.

We are grateful to all of our demoing companies for being a part of our biggest FinovateFall to date. Thanks as well to our sponsors, our partners, and – last but not least – our awesome attendees who continue to make our conferences among the most anticipated events on the fintech calendar each and every year. We look forward to seeing you again next fall!


Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their six favorites.
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”
4. The six companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named “Best of Show.”
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners through 2014. Best of Show winners from our 2015 through 2022 conferences are below:
FinovateEurope 2015
FinovateSpring 2015
FinovateFall 2015
FinovateEurope 2016
FinovateSpring 2016
FinovateFall 2016
FinovateAsia 2016
FinovateEurope 2017
FinovateSpring 2017
FinovateFall 2017
FinovateAsia 2017
FinovateMiddleEast 2018
FinovateEurope 2018
FinovateSpring 2018
FinovateFall 2018
FinovateAsia 2018
FinovateAfrica 2018
FinovateEurope 2019
FinovateSpring 2019
FinovateFall 2019
FinovateAsia 2019
FinovateMiddleEast 2019
FinovateEurope 2020
FinovateFall 2020
FinovateWest 2020
FinovateEurope 2021
FinovateSpring 2021
FinovateFall 2021
FinovateEurope 2022
FinovateSpring 2022

Business Spending Tool Pleo Taps Yapily for Open Banking Payments

Business Spending Tool Pleo Taps Yapily for Open Banking Payments
  • Small business spending solution Pleo and open banking provider Yapily have formed a partnership.
  • Under the agreement, Pleo will leverage Yapily Payments to enable account-to-account payments for its small business clients.
  • Pleo will begin rolling out the new service to its business clients in the Netherlands and France in the coming months.

Small business spending solution Pleo has teamed up with open banking provider Yapily this week.

Pleo is leveraging Yapily Payments, a tool that enables direct account-to-account payments. And because Yapily uses open banking, it does not use card rails, which ultimately cuts out middlemen and limits fees. Yapily covers 19 countries and has more than 1900 institutions integrated with its open banking infrastructure.

Pleo was founded in 2015 and enables small businesses to tackle invoices, issue reimbursements, give their employees payment cards for work-related expenses. The company’s spending solution offers small businesses control over employee spend and provides visibility into their expenses.

Yapily Payments will enable Pleo users to top up their Pleo account directly from their bank account. This direct connection offers two major benefits– it offers instant payments and decreases the risk of card fraud and human error. “Manual processes, settlement periods, and bottlenecks in cash flow are all avoidable obstacles,” said Pleo Chief Product Officer Olov Eriksson. “We want to enable our users to focus on what really matters: growing their business and empowering their people.”

Pleo will begin offering customers the new capability in a gradual rollout “over the coming months.” The service will be made available starting in the Netherlands and France. The bank account to-up capability is just the start of Pleo’s partnership with Yapily. Pleo also plans to leverage more of Yapily’s payments solutions in the future.

Yapily was founded in 2017 and offers API-based tools to enable the connection between banks and third party fintechs. Last month, the U.K.-based company launched Variable Recurring Payments, a tool that allows merchants and service providers to offer recurring payments of varying amounts without having to re-authenticate for each transaction.


Photo by Ketut Subiyanto

Credix Raises $11.3 Million for Decentralized Credit Marketplace

Credix Raises $11.3 Million for Decentralized Credit Marketplace
  • Decentralized credit platform Credix raised $11.25 million in funding.
  • The Series A round was led by Motive Partners and ParaFi Capital and boosts Credix’s total funding to $13.8 million.
  • Credix will use the funds to enhance platform development, increase staff, and integrate with Web3 projects.

Decentralized credit platform Credix raked in $11.25 million today. The Belgium-based company’s Series A funding round was led by Motive Partners and ParaFi Capital with contributions from Valor Capital, MGG Bayhawk Fund, Victory Park Capital, Circle Ventures, Fuse Capital, and Abra.

Credix will use the funds to boost platform development, increase staff, and integrate with Web3 projects.

The round follows Credix’s December 2021 Seed round and brings the company’s total funding to $13.8 million. Company CEO Thomas Bohner described the round as the “next major step” in bringing Credix’s protocol and platform for credit investing to investors.

Credix launched last year to develop a credit platform that matches institutional investors and fintech lenders, bridging DeFi and real-world assets. The company enables finfech companies and non-bank lenders to convert their receivables and real assets into investment capital. Credix leverages USDC and smart contracts to offer instant settlement and transparency. 

Since its launch, Credix has gone live in Brazil and has originated more than $23 million active loans in in the past six months. The company will launch in additional geographies “soon.”


Photo by Cup of Couple

Intelligent Compliance Innovator Txtsmarter Secures Series A Funding and Appoints New CEO

Intelligent Compliance Innovator Txtsmarter Secures Series A Funding and Appoints New CEO
  • Compliance communications surveillance service txtsmarter has raised Series A funding. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
  • The Silicon Valley, California-based company also announced a new CEO, Edward Green.
  • Founded in 2014, txtsmarter demoed its technology at FinovateSpring earlier this year.

Private messaging communications surveillance service txtsmarter is sharing some big news. First, the Silicon Valley, California-based company has closed a Series A funding round led by North Carolina-based investment bank and financial services company, Carolina Financial Group. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.

Second, txtsmarter has appointed a new CEO, Edward Green, to lead the company in its next stage of growth. Formerly CEO of Ring Access and Basys Automation Systems, Green also has 26 years of direct venture capital experience. He replaces outgoing CEO Nuri Otus, who is no longer involved in the company’s operations.

Speaking about the fundraising, Green pointed to growing demands from companies to meet regulatory expectations as they relate to private messaging and communications. “Over the past couple of months, global regulatory agencies have focused on financial institutions, levying billions of dollars of fines for missing texts and WhatsApp messages,” Green explained. “txtsmarter’s unique solution empowers companies to achieve eComms compliance in near real-time across an ever-shifting landscape of communications channels.”

txtsmarter’s technology enables the capture, verification, encryption, and archiving of data from private messaging applications, platforms, and services. The company’s compliance communications surveillance service works with Apple iMessage, Android SMS/MMS, WhatsApp, and other messaging products. By making previously inaccessible data available in real-time – and recently adding the ability to access historical messaging data, as well – txtsmarter helps businesses meet compliance obligations and mitigate data leaks.

This spring, txtsmarter was awarded the 2022 Most Innovative Use of Alternative Data in Regulatory Compliance at the A-Team Innovation Awards. The company called the award a validation of the work its done in developing its intelligent compliance solution, as well as a reflection of the need for such a solution in the marketplace.

“With txtsmarter, there is no data loss, no apps to install, and no learning curve; it’s an elegant solution for the modern world of e-comms compliance surveillance for any company,” Hugh Cumberland, Managing Director, UK/EMEA, said. “We have all seen what big headlines can do to a company’s brand and reputation and have observed the FCA cracking down on firms to ensure all communications are recorded as required. txtsmarter mitigates communication data gaps to prevent sanctions and fines during the audit process. It’s as simple as that.”


Photo by Pixabay

Hawk AI and Diebold Nixdorf Partner for New AML Surveillance and Fraud Prevention Solution

Hawk AI and Diebold Nixdorf Partner for New AML Surveillance and Fraud Prevention Solution
  • New Finovate alum Hawk AI announced a collaboration with Diebold Nixdorf.
  • The partnership will facilitate the distribution and implementation of Hawk AI’s AML Surveillance and Fraud Prevention suite to banks.
  • Hawk AI made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateSpring in San Francisco.

Hawk AI, a fraud-fighting and AML platform based in Germany, announced a new partnership with fellow Finovate alum Diebold Nixdorf. Together, the two companies will collaborate to distribute and implement Hawk AI’s AML Surveillance and Fraud Prevention suite in banks to enable them to combat financial crime more effectively. The initial focus on the collaboration will be in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, and will make it easier for Diebold Nixdorf customers in particular to access Hawk AI’s financial crime fighting technology.

Hawk AI CEO and co-founder Tobias Schweiger said that the willingness of financial institutions to adopt technology like Hawk AI’s AML Surveillance and Fraud Prevention suite is due to both “operational considerations” as well as the demands of regulatory authorities, which are “starting to ask for answers to fast-changing financial crime trends which no longer can be addressed with old technology and too much labor.” Instead, Schweiger said, Hawk AI’s partnership with Diebold Nixdorf helps alleviate one of the critical problems to answering these regulatory queries; namely the challenge of implementing newer, better financial crime fighting technology. Schweiger credited Diebold Nixdorf for having the “strong know-how, and professional services capabilities” to make implementation easier and less risky for customers.

“We’re thrilled to work with Hawk AI, a pioneer in explainable AI-powered AML and modern fraud prevention,” Diebold Nixdorf Director Solutions DACH Walter Gries said. “While combating new fincrime techniques is urgently needed, financial institutions must ensure a transparent process where frontline workers, auditors, and regulators trust the results. Hawk AI’s systems provide this trust, and we look forward to bringing the technology to new financial institutions together.”

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Munich, Germany, Hawk AI made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring earlier this year. At the event, the company demoed its technology that combines AI with traditional, rule-based strategies to monitor financial transactions in real-time. When suspicious activity is observed, the platform sends alerts to financial crime specialists for further investigation. This helps limit the amount of false positives that can weigh-down the effectiveness of a financial crime solution and create unwanted friction for customers.

Hawk AI’s partnership with Diebold Nixdorf comes just one month after the German company reported that it was working with KYC and customer onboarding specialist Ondato. Announced last month, Hawk AI and Ondato have teamed up to offer an integrated KYC validation process that features AML transaction monitoring and behavioral analysis. Ondato CEO and co-founder Liudas Kanapienis highlighted this aspect of the partnership in his statement, noting that the collaboration will enable Ondato to “expand client onboarding and compliance management towards behavior monitoring.”

Also in August, Hawk AI teamed up with Aux, a credit union service organization (CUSO) that serves more than 200 credit unions in the U.S. The partnership will make it easier for credit unions to access Hawk AI’s financial fraud and AML solutions. Aux VP of Compliance Services Gaye DeCesare praised Hawk AI’s technology as “easier to use and more cost effective than other legacy products on the market today.” DeCesare also underscored the fact that HAWK AI’s technology is “enhanced with new features and functionality” on a regular basis.


Photo by PhotoMIX Company

UBS Ditches Wealthfront After Agreeing to a $1.4 Billion Acquisition

UBS Ditches Wealthfront After Agreeing to a $1.4 Billion Acquisition
  • UBS and Wealthfront have mutually terminated a $1.4 billion acquisition announced earlier this year.
  • Despite the call-off, UBS has given Wealthfront $69.7 million in financing at a $1.4 billion valuation.
  • The termination of the deal comes after a significant decline in fintech valuations.

No matter the circumstances, breakups are always hard. Just ask financial services firm UBS and roboadvisor Wealthfront.

After agreeing to acquire Wealthfront in a deal valued at $1.4 billion in January, the two announced last week that the deal was off. Prior to last week, the acquisition was expected to close in the second half of this year. However, the two parties cited “unspecified regulatory concerns” as a reason for the deal collapse.

Purchasing Wealthfront, a roboadvisor headquartered in California, would have helped Switzerland-based UBS grow in the U.S. market and also would have offered access to Wealthfront’s digital wealth management tools and user-friendly technologies.

In January, Wealthfront had 470,000 clients and a total of $27 billion in assets under management. The company was founded in 2008 by Andy Rachleff and Dan Carroll as KaChing, and rebranded under the Wealthfront name in 2010. The company is known for it user-friendly, automated investing tools. Last year, Wealthfront added to its reputation by creating a Socially Responsible Investing Portfolio that is designed around sustainability, diversity, and equity.

“We are continuing to explore ways to work together in a partnership and UBS has given us $70 million in financing at a $1.4 billion valuation,” said Wealthfront Chief Executive Officer David Fortunato. “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.”

UBS has offered the new investment, which totals $69.7 million, via notes that can be converted into Wealthfront shares. “That protects other investors in Wealthfront from potentially having to mark down their stakes in the companies,” explained the Wall Street Journal

It is worth noting that the call-off of the acquisition comes after a significant decline in fintech valuations. If the deal was to have gone through, UBS would have likely overpaid for Wealthfront. It will be interesting to see if the Swiss bank will acquire a cheaper U.S.-based roboadvisor as a replacement now that valuations have decreased.


Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Data Driven Personalization in Banking

Data Driven Personalization in Banking

This is a sponsored post by Strands, Gold Sponsors of FinovateFall 2022.


Nowadays, personalization has become a must in all sectors that affect consumers’ daily lives. Companies such as Netflix and Amazon have already been able to create totally customized and customer-centric experiences thanks to advances in technology, data, and analytics. Digital Banking has also faced these expectations, demanding personalization for different user bases, needs, and underserved segments. With a focus on financial wellness, banks can generate cross-selling opportunities and create personalized journeys according to the interests of their customers.

Technology advancements have enabled companies to collect, analyze, and use data from a variety of sources, including internal and external channels, enabling banks to make better decisions, offers, and actions than ever before. Unfortunately, most banks still struggle to know their customers or to interact with them timely and relevantly – to provide the right offers at the right time to the right customers.

This is what customer centricity means, which is vastly different from product or brand centricity. When a financial institution has a deep understanding of its customers, it can provide solutions that are tailored to meet their specific needs, life stages, values, and interests beyond their typical sociodemographic information.

As part of this approach, extra data sources are tapped, such as third parties, in addition to what’s available within core banking as open banking data, surveys, social media, and other data sources consented by the customers, integrating machine learning, categorized transactional data, and other customer experience solutions that can enrich the available raw data.

How to derive and use such insights is now the question. In the first stage of data enrichment and analysis, core application data can be used to understand how the customer interacts with the bank, the recency, frequency, channels, etc. Through this information and analytical models, it is possible for financial institutions to predict proactively what the customer is likely to want or need in real time.

To learn more about personalization in the banking industry, download the full white paper Data Driven Personalization in Banking at Strands webpage.