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A Baker’s Dozen of African American Influencers in Fintech and Financial Services

A Baker’s Dozen of African American Influencers in Fintech and Financial Services
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Diversity in Fintech, List series

As part of Finovate’s continued commemoration of Black History Month, we’re showcasing some of the African American fintech and financial services influencers and leaders who are driving innovation and inclusion in our industry.

If you’ve ever lamented the lack of African Americans in the typical fintech influencer lists issued year after year, then hopefully this sampler of African American fintech entrepreneurs, technologists, and founders will help bring a little more color to the face of fintech.

Harry Alford III

Alford (LinkedIn) is Head of Institutional Sales at Coinbase Cloud where he is focused on sales and business development via partnerships and collaborations with financial institutions, businesses, and fintech startups. He is also co-founder of Humble Ventures, a Washington, D.C.-based venture development firm that supports and invests in founders and organizations that build solutions for diverse communities.

Jacqueline M. Baker

Baker (LinkedIn) is Vice President of Startup Programming at the AARP Innovation Labs where she leads a team dedicated to identifying promising startups via pitch competitions and accelerators. An expert in modern etiquette, leadership, and disruptive innovation, Baker is also founder and principal consultant at Scarlet Communications, an Upper Marlboro, Maryland-based firm that offers modern leadership guidance, professional training and coaching.

Marla Blow

Blow (LinkedIn) is President and Chief Operating Officer of the Skoll Foundation, an organization that invests in, networks, and champions social entrepreneurs and social innovators. In her role at Skoll, Blow leads the firm’s program, grants, investments, and financial management, including its operations, endowments and portfolio partnerships. She is also a member of the board of directors for Square Financial Services.

Asya Bradley

Bradley (LinkedIn) is co-founder and Chief Operating Officer at First Boulevard, a neobank and fully inclusive financial services company dedicated to helping Black Americans build generational wealth. Also the founder of #HowSheWorks, an inclusive grassroots community of founders and allies from underrepresented communities, Bradley has previously worked as SVP of Revenue at banking-as-a-service innovator SilaMoney, and as VP of Partnerships at identity verification specialist – and Finovate alum – Socure.

Chris Brummer

Brummer (LinkedIn) is a professor and faculty director at the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University Law Center. He has lectured frequently on topics ranging from financial inclusion and equity to financial regulation and global governance. A member of the board of directors of Fannie Mae and the co-founder of the Fintech Beat Podcast, Brummer is author of a number of books including Fintech Law in a Nutshell and Cryptoassets: Legal, Regulatory, and Monetary Perspectives.

Thasunda Brown Duckett

Duckett (LinkedIn) is President and CEO of TIAA, a Fortune 100 financial services company that provides investing, retirement, and banking advice to academic, medical, non-profit and public sector professionals. Duckett has an extensive background in financial services, including executive tenures at JP Morgan Chase and Fannie Mae. She is a member of the board of directors at a number of organizations including NIKE, and the Economic Club of New York, as well as being part of the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Baylor University Hankamer School of Business.

Roger W. Ferguson, Jr.

Ferguson J. (LinkedIn) is the former President and CEO of retirement services company TIAA. He was previously Head of Financial Services at Swiss Re and a member of the company’s Executive Committee. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors with the Federal Reserve from 1999 to 2006. A Harvard University graduate, earning a B.A. in Economics, a J.D., and a PhD in Economics from the institution, Ferguson Jr. also spent 13 years as an associate and partner with McKinsey & Company.

Jon Fortt

Fortt (LinkedIn) is Co-Anchor of CNBC’s TechCheck (previously Squawk Alley) where he specializes in the intersection of technology, finance, and innovation. Formerly a senior writer with Fortune, Fortt is an author, designer, and publisher of an educational course called The Black Experience in America that draws on diverse sources ranging from Shakespeare to Toni Morrison.

Donald Hawkins

Hawkins (LinkedIn) is co-founder and CEO of First Boulevard, the “unapologetically Black, digitally native bank” designed to help African Americans build generational wealth. An ICBA Bankers’ Choice 2020 recipient, Hawkins is a serial entrepreneur who, before launching First Boulevard, founded Griffin Technologies, a Kansas City, Missouri-based firm that helps community banks and credit unions improve customer engagement, boost sales, and compete with larger financial institutions.

Netta Jenkins

Jenkins (LinkedIn) is Vice President of Global Inclusion at Unqork, a no-code application platform that helps businesses build complex, customized software solutions faster while keeping costs low. Recognized by Forbes as one of the top seven anti-racism educators in the world, Jenkins is also co-founder of Dipper, a digital safe-space and community for professionals of color to share their experiences in the workplace.

Rodney Williams

Williams (LinkedIn) is co-founder and Chairman of SoLo Funds, a fintech that serves underrepresented communities in the U.S. by providing an alternative lending option that emphasizes equity and empowerment. Williams also co-founded ultrasonic data platform LISNR, a technology company that provides secure person-present authentication. A Henry Crown Fellow at The Aspen Institute and a Techstars Mentor, Williams received his MBA in Finance and Supply Chain Management from Howard University in Washington, D.C. Find out more about Williams and SoLo Funds in our interview from earlier this month.

Teri Williams

Williams (LinkedIn) is President and Chief Operating Officer at OneUnited Bank, the largest Black-owned bank in the U.S. She is responsible for both implementing the bank’s strategic initiatives as well as managing the day-to-day operations of the institution. She has led OneUnited Bank in its consolidation of four local banks into a cohesive, national brand that provides affordable financial services for all while supporting economic development and wealth building in urban communities. An executive with OneUnited Bank for more than 26 years, Williams was previously a Vice President at American Express.

Dana L. Wilson

Wilson (LinkedIn) is a professional speaker and consultant who helps financial services firms create inclusive workspaces. She is also founder and CEO of CHIP (Changing How Individuals Prosper), a B2B2C marketplace for companies seeking Black and Latino financial professionals. A Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Award Winner and self-described “FinServ Techie”, Wilson is also the host of The Included Series Podcast, a program that features people of color sharing their personal financial journeys.

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Apple Launches iPhone Tap-to-Pay as Payment Acceptance Tool for Merchants

Apple Launches iPhone Tap-to-Pay as Payment Acceptance Tool for Merchants
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Apple launched its Tap to Pay capability enabling merchants to accept payments via iPhone
  • Stripe will be the first payment platform to offer the new Tap to Pay functionality.
  • The new solution will compete with Block’s Square, PayPal’s contactless QR code payment offering, and others

Rumors circulated about the launch of a contactless payment acceptance tool for iPhone a few weeks ago. Today, the news is no longer a rumor; Apple confirmed the details.

The tech giant announced plans to launch Tap to Pay on iPhone, a new capability that lets merchants use their iPhone to accept Apple Pay, contactless payment cards, and other digital wallets by tapping it to their iPhone. The new payment tool will be available as a service. Apple will allow payment platforms and app developers to integrate the new contactless payment capability into their iOS apps for business customers.

“As more and more consumers are tapping to pay with digital wallets and credit cards, Tap to Pay on iPhone will provide businesses with a secure, private, and easy way to accept contactless payments and unlock new checkout experiences using the power, security, and convenience of iPhone,” said Apple’s Vice President of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet Jennifer Bailey. “In collaboration with payment platforms, app developers, and payment networks, we’re making it easier than ever for businesses of all sizes — from solopreneurs to large retailers — to seamlessly accept contactless payments and continue to grow their business.”

Tap to Pay leverages NFC technology to enable customers to pay by holding their iPhone, Apple Watch, contactless credit or debit card, or other digital wallet near the merchant’s iPhone, to complete a purchase in person. Once the technology becomes available, merchants simply need to unlock the capability on their iPhone; no additional hardware is necessary.

Stripe will be the first payment platform to offer Tap to Pay. The fintech will offer the payment technology to its merchant customers via its new Shopify app. Additional payment platforms will be added later this year. “Whether you’re a salesperson at an internet-first retailer or an individual entrepreneur, you can soon accept contactless payments on a device that’s already in your pocket: your iPhone,” said Stripe Chief Business Officer Billy Alvarado. “With Tap to Pay on iPhone, millions of businesses using Stripe can enhance their in-person commerce experience by offering their customers a fast and secure checkout.”

The new payment acceptance tool is a direct competitor to the multiple merchant acceptance solutions that launched over a decade ago, including Block’s Square, which launched its card reading dongle in May of 2010, and PayPal, which launched its contactless QR code payment technology in 2020.

Despite this well-established competition, Apple still has more than a fighting chance to gain traction with Tap to Pay. That’s because not only is it hardware-free, it is also virtually friction-free for customers, and doesn’t require shoppers to download a new app or change their existing habits. Additionally, because it is an Apple product, we can count on it to build a customer-first user interface.

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Betterment Embraces the Cryptocurrency Revolution with Makara Acquisition

Betterment Embraces the Cryptocurrency Revolution with Makara Acquisition
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Acquisition, Alumni News, Betterment, Daily news
  • Investment platform Betterment will acquire cryptocurrency portfolio manager Makara. Terms were not disclosed.
  • The acquisition will enable Betterment to incorporate automated, personalized digital asset investing into its roboadvisory services.
  • Seattle, Washington-based Makara was founded in 2021 and has raised $2.1 million in seed funding.

Mr. Money Mustache may not like it. But the news that online investment platform Betterment has agreed to acquire cryptocurrency portfolio manager Makara is yet another sign that incumbent fintechs are playing a major role in helping crypto go mainstream.

“Crypto is here to stay and Betterment wants to live our promise of long-term diversification and to provide our customers with the best variety of assets in the marketplace,” Betterment CEO Sarah Levy explained. Levy praised the Makara acquisition as a unique opportunity to bring Betterment customers managed cryptocurrency portfolios “combined with the guidance and ease-of-use that have defined Betterment.”

Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Makara was founded in 2021 by Jesse Proudman and Sadie Raney. The company is the first crypto-based roboadvisor to be registered with the SEC, and offers investment exposure to the cryptocurrency market that is both automated and personalized to the investor’s goals and preferences. Makara investors can select cryptocurrencies organized into thematic baskets – Bitcoin, Blue Chip, Decentralized Finance, Ethereum, Inflation Hedge, Metaverse, Universe, and Web 3.0 – that cover the wide (and growing) range of digital asset offerings.

Betterment leverages passive index-tracking and fixed income ETFs to offer goal-based investing strategies via both taxable and tax-advantaged accounts such traditional and Roth IRAs. The addition of Makara will enable the New York-based investment platform to give investors the ability to diversify their accounts without having to worry about selecting individual digital assets. The acquisition will also make it easier for Betterment’s financial advisor customers to offer cryptocurrency exposure to their clients without those advisors having to be experts in the digital asset arena.

The acquisition is expected to close later in Q1 of 2022. Makara’s team of experts and engineers will join the Betterment team at that point.

“We developed Makara to bring an easy and accessible long-term investing approach to cryptocurrencies,” Makara co-founder and CEO Jesse Proudman said. “Combining our crypto expertise with Betterment’s scale will accelerate the growth of the platform with both retail investors and financial advisors.”

Betterment made its Finovate debut in 2010, winning Best of Show for its online savings and investment platform. In the years since, the company has grown into one of the world’s leading digital investment advisors, with more than 700,000 customers and more than $33 billion in assets under management. Last fall, the company announced raising $160 million in funding – including a $60 million in Series F equity investment – earning the New York-based firm a valuation of $1.3 billion.

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American Express Launches Digital Checking Account to Compete with Challenger Banks

American Express Launches Digital Checking Account to Compete with Challenger Banks
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, American Express, Daily news
  • American Express is launching a new, digital checking account called Amex Rewards Checking
  • The Amex Rewards Checking account will offer a 0.50% high-yield APY on account balances, along with other membership rewards
  • The new checking account is only open to primary American Express credit cardholders and is limited to individual users.

Financial services giant American Express is expanding its horizons into the crowded world of digital checking. The company is launching Amex Rewards Checking, an all-digital consumer checking account, for eligible U.S. card members.

As an incumbent player, American Express has multiple advantages over the many smaller digital challenger upstarts that have launched in the past two years. That’s because not only does the New York-based firm have credibility and a pre-existing large customer base, it also comes with a reputation for its rewards and perks.

“Our Members want more banking products and services from us,” said American Express Executive Vice President and General Manager of Consumer Banking Eva Reda. “And they want more from their checking account, without giving up the benefits that are important to them. That’s why we built Amex Rewards Checking to deliver more value for Members with the powerful and trusted backing of American Express. It’s digital checking without compromises.”

The checking account product will be a draw to Millennial and Gen Z users, who look for banking products with incentives and rewards. In fact, according to a study from Amex, 35% of consumers rank rewards and offers at the top when considering opening a new account. Given this, Amex packed competitive features into its new checking account. Accountholders can:

  • Earn 0.50% high-yield APY on their account balance, which is 10x higher than the national rate
  • Gain one Membership Rewards point for every $2 spent on eligible debit card purchases. Users can redeem these points for deposits into their Amex checking account
  • Pay no monthly maintenance fees or minimum balance fees
  • Receive purchase protection for accidental damage or theft on eligible purchases
  • Access Amex’s customer care providers 24/7 via phone or chat
  • Receive fraud protection and monitoring
  • Make fee-free ATM withdrawals at 37,000 MoneyPass ATM locations

The new Rewards Checking account is only open to primary American Express credit cardholders who have had their account for more than three months. Currently, the new checking account is limited to individuals and cannot accommodate joint accounts.

The new Amex Rewards Checking is American Express’ first checking account for retail customers. The financial services giant has offered small business checking for a little over a year now. The company acquired Kabbage in 2020 for $850 million and leveraged the purchase to launch a small business checking offering in 2021. That said, it’s worth noting that Amex’s new debit card is not available to its small business checking customers.

American Express, which presented at our developers conference in 2015, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker AXP. The company saw $36 billion in revenue in 2020 and has a market capitalization of $149 billion. Stephen Squeri is CEO.

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The Conversation Continues: Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast

The Conversation Continues: Greg Palmer and the Finovate Podcast
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Podcasting

Another year begins – and so does the latest round of podcasts hosted by one of fintech’s favorite conversationalists, Finovate VP Greg Palmer!

In his most recent discussions on the Finovate Podcast, Palmer has talked about the challenge of inclusivity when it comes to lending in financial services, as well as the hurdles innovative companies face when trying to turn inspiration into reality and promise into winning, marketable products that delight and engage customers. And with the new year just getting underway, the Finovate Podcast also took stock of some of the major trends in fintech in 2021 with an eye toward seeing how they will be resolved here in 2022.

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

Kurt Lin, Co-founder and CEO, Pinwheel

Host Greg Palmer talks with Pinwheel co-founder and CEO Kurt Lin about the problem of inaccessibility and credit invisibility in our financial system and what Pinwheel is doing to innovate in the lending space. Episode 118.

“What we do at Pinwheel is pretty straightforward: we look at all the different income sources that exist – whether it be payroll systems, gig platforms, or future of work platforms like Etsy or ebay – and we combine it into a platform and make it really easy for anyone to connect their income account or their payroll account to any app for the purpose of sharing that data or to do things like update direct deposits.”

Steven Ramirez, CEO, Beyond the Arc

Host Greg Palmer sits down with Beyond the Arc CEO Steven Ramirez to discuss predictions for 2022, cryptocurrencies, fintech super apps, the Buy Now Pay Later revolution, and more. Episode 117.

“There is huge hype and excitement about crypto which is, of course, leading to greater adoption. More people are finding on-ramps to crypto and some of them are super simple. If you look at Coinbase or Paypal, they really could not make it any easier to acquire your first cryptocurrencies. However, there is a lot behind that initial purchase about how you actually use cryptocurrency and some real sticking points that I think are going to be nasty surprises for consumers.”

Alex Castro, CEO, M Corp

Host Greg Palmer and Alex Castro, CEO of M Corp and author of Measure, Execute, Win, investigate the challenge of navigating the “execution gap” by strategically examining the space between strategy and results. Episode 116.

“We’ve seen over the last 10 years a great surge in innovation and ideas that can really help grow industries and companies. All too often those ideas fall to the wayside during the execution process, and that gap between idea or strategy and execution still remains the largest roadblock for these great ideas to get to market. We’ve analyzed that issue and we have some very deliberate methods and products to help resolve that gap so that more ideas can be more successful.”

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Wirex Expands to the U.S.

Wirex Expands to the U.S.
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Wirex, which has 4.5 million users across Europe and Asia, launched its crypto-to-fiat services in the U.S. today to all U.S. users, except those in New York and Hawaii
  • The company is partnering with Zero Hash, Checkout.com, Visa, and Sutton Bank for the distribution of its crypto-enabled debit card
  • The launch comes 18 months after Wirex received its first money transmission license in the U.S.

Remember in 2020 when we wrote that Wirex was “inching” toward a U.S. launch? Well, the slow crawl is over; the cryptocurrency payments platform announced it has officially expanded its services to the U.S.

Wirex’s platform, which enables users to buy, store, exchange, and spend fiat currency and more than 37 cryptocurrencies, is leveraging partnerships with Zero Hash, Checkout.com, Visa, and Sutton Bank to distribute its crypto-enabled debit card to American users. The London-based company is expanding beyond the EEA and APAC regions, where it already serves 4.5 million users.

“U.S. users have been demanding an alternative to traditional forms of payments that are antiquated, slow and non-transparent, and that’s where Wirex steps in,” said Wirex USA Managing Director Harold Montgomery. “We’re known for upholding regulatory and licensing standards where required, and applying industry-best practices where regulations don’t yet exist. American customers can expect the same level of compliance.”

Founded in 2014, Wirex’s app links to a Visa debit card that allows customers to spend their cryptocurrency online and in-store at over 61 million locations. Additionally, the company offers free domestic and international ATM withdrawals, no annual fee, zero exchange fees, near instant crypto transactions, live transaction notifications, and the ability to instantly top up via their debit card with zero fees.

Today’s launch comes 18 months after the company received its first money transmission license in the U.S. from the State of Georgia Department of Banking and Finance. Starting today, Wirex’s services are available to users in all states except New York and Hawaii. The company said it will launch in those regions later this year.

In December of last year, Wirex launched its non-custodial wallet, an app within the Wirex ecosystem that serves as a secure way for users to send, store, and receive digital assets. Earlier that month, Wirex invested five billion Wirex Tokens in a new, cross-chain DeFi lending protocol called Nereus.

Wirex has almost $8 million in funding. Pavel Matveev is CEO.

Photo by Ewan Kennedy on Unsplash

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Fiserv Agrees to Acquire Finxact in Deal Valued at $650 Million

Fiserv Agrees to Acquire Finxact in Deal Valued at $650 Million
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Fiserv, Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Fiserv has agreed to acquire Finxact in a transaction valued at $650 million.
  • The acquisition will help bolster Fiserv’s position as “partner of choice” for firms looking to add to their digital banking offerings.
  • First Data Ventures, the corporate arm of 2019 Fiserv acquisition First Data, was an early investor in Finxact.

Leading fintech and payments company Fiserv announced today that it has agreed to acquire cloud native banking solution provider Finxact. An early investor in the company, Fiserv will purchase the remaining ownership interest in Finxact for $650 million, and will leverage the acquisition to add to Fiserv’s account processing, digital, and payments solutions.

“Through this combination, Fiserv will create a streamlined path for clients to offer digital solutions to their customers,” Fiserv President and CEO Frank Bisignano said. “Finxact also enhances our ability to support a growing number of financial institutions and business clients.”

Jacksonville, Florida-based Finxact offers a core-as-a-service platform that enables financial institutions to innovate and bring new solutions to market without requiring a complete technological overhaul of existing systems. Finxact leverages open banking APIs and the cloud to help firms future-proof and add flexibility to their businesses by abstracting the critical components of core banking from other operations and services – such as mobile banking, communications, and statements. The company’s partners range from financial institutions like Live Oak Bank ($8.2 billion in assets) and Iberiabank’s Virtual Bank to fintechs like Personetics and Anchorage Digital.

Calling the acquisition a “tremendous opportunity” for his six-year old company, Finxact Chairman and CEO Frank Sanchez said, “We recognize that Finxact’s technology can serve to level up the industry’s delivery infrastructure, and crucially at a time when banking is undergoing transformative change. We will be better positioned to serve a far greater number of institutions, of all sizes, when combined with the breadth and depth of Fiserv capabilities.”

Finxact was founded in 2016 and has raised $42 million in funding. The company ended 2021 with the introduction of its no-code visual Product Launchpad, a platform enhancement that brings a visual design experience to the creation and deployment of products on the Finxact core.

The acquisition of Finxact is only the latest fintech deal by Fiserv since its big, $22 billion purchase of First Data Corporation in 2019. Last fall, Fiserv announced the completion of its acquisition of marketing and commerce platform BentoBox. The year before, Fiserv acquired digital card services platform Ondot. Other recent acquisitions include its pick-up of Bypass Mobile in 2020 and NetPay in 2021. The company’s most recent Finovate appearance was at FinovateWest 2020, an all-digital event in which Fiserv demoed its Virtual Banking Assistant. The technology brings AI-driven, conversational experiences to call center operations, boosting customer engagement and reducing costs.

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Pillow Raises $3 Million for its DeFi Investment Platform

Pillow Raises $3 Million for its DeFi Investment Platform
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding
  • DeFi investment startup Pillow raised $3 million in Seed funding
  • The company will use the funds to fuel global expansion, build its investment strategies, and grow its user base
  • “We want to create a future where accessibility to decentralized finance is democratized,” said company founders

Pillow, a platform that invests in curated DeFi strategies, landed $3 million in funding this week in its first-ever investment round. The Seed round was led by Elevation Capital and a group of crypto angels. Pillow will use the funds to build out DeFi strategies, accelerate global expansion, build up its community of users, and grow the Pillow brand to reach a global audience.

Pillow was founded in 2021 to offer its users an accessible way to earn market-beating interest rates on a range of crypto holdings– including $USDC, $USDT, $BTC, and $ETH– without needing to be experts in the space. “We believe the next big unlock in Web 3.0 is going to come from significantly improving user experiences,” said Elevation Capital Principal Vaas Bhaskar. “Pillow fits right into that theme by abstracting away the complexities of DeFi – and hence making it more accessible.”

To remove the complexity, Pillow’s investment strategies are curated and actively managed. Additionally, the company offers 1-click investing with the potential of high yields and without transaction fees (known in the crypto world as gas fees) and underlying chains and tokens.

“We want to create a future where accessibility to decentralized finance is democratized, if not more than traditional finance. We’re fulfilling this vision by letting our users gain access to DeFi yield opportunities in a simple, safe, and secure manner,” said Pillow founders Arindam Roy, Rajath KM, and Kartik Mishra. “Our users have shown unequivocal faith in our platform in our private access program, and we’re on track to scale this to new heights. We’re grateful for the mentorship and guidance of Elevation Capital as we scale, along with some of the best builders in the Web 3.0 space … We’re elated to have the ecosystem rally behind us as we build our platform and community.”

Though decentralized finance seemed like a futuristic vision of the financial world in 2020, progress toward a decentralized world is quickly picking up steam. The total locked value in decentralized assets has gone from around $20 billion at the start of last year to around $250 billion this year. Additionally, last January, the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) gave the green light to allow banks to use stablecoins. And many countries have either launched, piloted, or are in the process of planning their own bank-issued digital currency (including the U.S. Federal Reserve, which issued a discussion paper on central bank digital currencies last week).

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Kuwait Issues Guidelines for Digital Banks; QR Codes Versus Cash in Argentina

Kuwait Issues Guidelines for Digital Banks; QR Codes Versus Cash in Argentina
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, Mambu, NCR Corporation, Nordigen

According to a report from Medici, nearly 168 million people in the MENA region (Middle East and Northern Africa) do not have a bank account. In this environment, opportunities for both traditional financial institutions and new entrants are numerous. In some instances, financial services companies have launched their own digital banking portals in order to reach out beyond their current customer bases. In other cases, these firms have teamed up with challenger banks and innovative fintechs to help bridge the gap between the banked and the unbanked.

One of the challenges to reaching more potential customers in the MENA region has been regulatory, which makes this week’s news from the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) all the more notable. The CBK issued a set of guidelines for digital banks as part of a campaign to improve financial stability, encourage innovation, and help the country respond to its economic needs.

In drawing up its guidelines, the CBK relied on a study of the regulatory approaches taken by 25 central banks and 40 digital bank business models. The CBK noted that there were three main models for digital banking: as a unit within a traditional bank, a partnership between a bank and a digitally-based institution in which the bank manages core banking operations while the partnering institution manages customer relations and other operations, and as a standalone digital bank.

“The guidelines come in five parts covering the definition of digital banks, their legal framework, and licensed activities, as well as phases and procedures for establishment of digital banks,” CBK Governor Dr. Mohammad Y. Al-Hashel said. The new guidelines pave the way for interested parties to apply from now until June 30th. Initial approvals, according to the CBK governor, will be made by the end of the year.

For more on the digital banking landscape in the Middle East, with a particular focus on neobanks, check out this overview from Medici.

Speaking of central banks, the head of Argentina’s central bank, Miguel Ángel Pesce, recently gave an interview with the Buenos Aires Times. The main focus of the conversation was a preliminary agreement with the International Monetary Fund to deal with the country’s $44.5 billion debt to the organization. The agreement, which includes a pledge to reduce the country’s fiscal deficit as well as other measures, comes after a two-year negotiation process and still requires the approval of both Argentina’s congress as well as the IMF board of directors.

Yet it was Pesce’s separate conversation with Buenos Aires reporter Jorge Fontevecchia – published this week – that may be of greater interest to followers of international fintech. In that interview, Pesce explained some of the more controversial policies of Argentina’s central bank toward fintechs, including deposit insurance requirements for payment service companies. Pesce defended the practice as a way of “making more independent the assets of companies lending out the assets deposited in them” and of assuring that companies that serve as financial intermediaries are regulated as such. Pesce acknowledged that while this policy has engendered “some resentment in the short term,” it is necessary to ensure a “solid system” that banking services customers can rely upon.

In terms of innovation, Pesce spoke positively about the launch and adoption of interoperable QR codes, which were made mandatory in Argentina for all electronic invoices starting in late December 2020. He noted that interoperable QR codes could do to physical cash what electronic checks have done to paper checks (“a very important step in this direction”). And while he offered no timetable on the transition, “it’s going to end up happening,” Pesce insisted.

Read the full interview at Buenos Aires Times

FinovateEurope 2022 is right around the corner. If you are an innovative fintech company with new technology to show, then there’s no better time than now and no better forum than FinovateEurope. To learn more about how to demo your latest innovation at FinovateEurope 2022 in London, March 22-23, visit our FinovateEurope hub today!

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

Central and Southern Asia

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Cross River Bank Teams Up with PayTile to Offer Location-Based Payments Solution

Cross River Bank Teams Up with PayTile to Offer Location-Based Payments Solution
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Partnership Outlook
  • Cross River Bank and PayTile announce collaboration to offer a new location-based payments solution.
  • The companies compare the new solution to Apple’s AirDrop, which enables the sending of data without an exchange of PII.
  • In addition to the partnership, PayTile is launching a new cash drop-off technology Money Drop.

A partnership between Cross River Bank and online payments company PayTile will bring a new location-based payments solution to market. PayTile is among the first P2P payment platforms to use geo-location to enable safe and private financial transactions between individuals without requiring exchange of personal information. The company will leverage core banking infrastructure and payments functionality – including ACH and Push-to-Card capabilities – from Cross River Bank for the new offering.

“PayTile’s mission is to make digital payments as private as cash and as safe as a card,” PayTile CEO Anu Vora explained. “While traditional P2P apps exist to pay the people you already know, PayTile exists to safely pay people you don’t know.”

PayTile’s technology is designed especially to be used in situations in which physical cash would be the preferred option. This includes tipping in hospitality-related instances, as well as informal transactions such as shopping at local farmer’s market. The company compares the location-based payment service to iOS’s “AirDrop” capability, enabling money transfers without requiring an exchange of usernames, legal names, emails, or phone numbers.

“Anu and the team at PayTile are revolutionizing peer-to-peer payments,” Cross River founder, president, and CEO Gilles Gade said. “By partnering with innovative companies like PayTile, Cross River creates real time solutions to empower consumers and their finances.”

The partnership announcement comes at the same time that PayTile is launching its Money Drop technology which enables the digital placement of cash or other digital goods at an exact location for users to pick up and redeem at their convenience. One use case of Money Drop, according to PayTile, would be for the company’s business partners to use the technology to draw a physical crowd to a specific location for promotional purposes, such as selling discounted tickets at an event location or offering rewards to commemorate the opening of a brick-and-mortar business.

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Fort Lee, New Jersey, Cross River Bank ended 2021 with new collaborations with money movement automation platform Astra and payments firm Payment Approved. With Astra, Cross River Bank will power the first point-to-point debit transfer solution, offering instant payments via API. With Payment Approved, Cross River Bank will provide both the payments and technology infrastructure to support payments via Push-to-Card capabilities with both Mastercard and Visa. Cross River Bank will also serve as the sponsor bank for Payment Approved, providing clearing accounts, FBO management, and merchant acquiring services for the company’s business customers.

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ConsenSys Acquires MyCrypto to Improve its Web3 Wallet

ConsenSys Acquires MyCrypto to Improve its Web3 Wallet
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Blockchain technology company ConsenSys is acquiring MyCrypto
  • ConsenSys will combine MyCrypto’s tech with its own Web3 wallet, MetaMask
  • Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed

Blockchain technology firm ConsenSys made its seventh acquisition today. The Switzerland-based company is buying Ethereum interface MyCrypto, a California-based startup that helps users manage and store their crypto assets.

Specifically, ConsenSys will combine its Web3 wallet, MetaMask, with MyCrypto to improve security and standardize the user experience across desktop, mobile, extension, and browser wallets. MyCrypto launched in 2015 to help users unify their Ethereum accounts. Founded one year later, MetaMask offers its 21 million monthly active users a non-custodial crypto wallet for mobile and browser extensions.

“I think we’ll be able to provide a wallet experience that is much more able to help its users make the best decisions through this rapidly evolving Web3 wallet landscape,” said MetaMask Co-founder Dan Finlay.

The MyCrypto and MetaMask teams have collaborated since 2016. The groups have teamed up to educate the customers on security best practices and have helped integrate and maintain MetaMask’s phishing detection service. User security and education will continue to be a major priority. Moving forward, MyCrypto and MetaMask aim to prioritize user security and education.

“With the rapid growth of the ecosystem and products racing to ship slick features, it is imperative that the leading wallet continues to build foundational and secure self-custody tools that empower the user,” said MyCrypto CEO and Co-founder Taylor Monahan. “Combining our years of experience and shared values allows us to accelerate our mission of providing a way for users to fully realize their self-sovereignty.”

ConsenSys plans to eventually merge the MetaMask and MyCrypto features and brands. For now, however, they will operate independently. MetaMask Co-founders Dan Finlay and Aaron Davis, will lead the unified Desktop, Mobile, Extension, and Browser product offerings alongside MyCrypto founder Taylor Monahan. MyCrypto’s team of 12 employees will join ConsenSys.

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Look Who’s Making Their Finovate Debuts Next Month in London at FinovateEurope

Look Who’s Making Their Finovate Debuts Next Month in London at FinovateEurope
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2022, Speaker series

In addition to many of the familiar faces who will be returning to London next month for FinovateEurope, this year’s conference also will feature a sizable number of newcomers to the Finovate stage. Here’s a brief introduction and welcome to these FinovateEurope speakers to whet your appetite for what we have in store on both our Digital Kick Off Day of March 15th and during the conference proper on March 22nd and 23rd.

With more than 20 years of experience in advisory services within Swedish bank Handelsbanken, Malin Lignell currently works with the company’s Digitalization and Innovation team to enable greater innovation and focus on the bank’s digitalization journey. Having a keen eye on the way emerging technologies influence customer behavior and drive new business models, Lignell will lead a Fireside Chat as part of FinovateEurope’s Digital Kick Off event on March 15.

Author of The Fifth Industrial Revolution, Inma Martinez will provide FinovateEurope’s Keynote Address on Wednesday, March 23rd. Martinez is a digital pioneer and AI scientist, as well as a member of the Expert Group at The Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI), an AI-based initiative sponsored by the OECD and G7. An advisor to business and government leaders on how to turn digital transformation into competitive advantage and contribute to social progress, Martinez will share her insights on creating an exceptional customer experience via UX-led design. Borrowing from the successful experience of technology giants, Martinez will explain how financial institutions can pivot away from a product focus to a customer focus by “unlocking data” and enhancing customer engagement.

Here are some of the other newcomers who will be joining FinovateEurope as part of our Power Panels, roundtables, and Executive Boardroom sessions.

  • Radboud Vlaar. Founder and Managing Partner at Finch Capital, Vlaar will join our Future of Fintech power panel on our Digital Kick Off, Tuesday, March 15.

Our Executive Boardroom on Financial Inclusion on Tuesday, March 22 will feature five fintech experts, all of whom are newcomers to the Finovate roster.

  • Anette Broloes. Fintech analyst with Broloes Consult.
  • Natalie Ledward. Head of Vulnerable Customers, Monzo
  • Sanghamitra Karra. EMEA Head of Multicultural Client Strategy & Multicultural Innovation Lab at Morgan Stanley
  • Neha Mehta. Founder of FemTech Partners
  • Ahmed Karsli. Founder and CEO of Papara

Tuesday will also feature an Executive Boardroom on Financial Crime. Among the new faces on this panel are Jane Barber, Regulatory and Trade Association Lead, NatWest Group; and Nitzan Solomon, Head of Surveillance & Financial Crime Technology EMEA, Nomura.

Wednesday morning will feature a pair of Power Panels with a number of guests who will be appearing on the Finovate stage for the first time. Our panel on achieving digital acceleration includes newcomers Christoffer Malmer, Head of SEBx at SE; Gunter Uytterhoeven, Chief Customer & Innovation Officer at AXA Next; and Carol Hamilton, Senior Vice President of Global Solutions at Provenir. Making their Finovate debuts as part of our panel on fintech collaboration and partnerships are Janine Hirt, CEO of Innovate Finance, and Thea Loch, Head of Strategic Design with Lloyds Banking Group.

FinovateEurope 2022 is right around the corner. If you are an innovative fintech company with new technology to show, then there’s no better time than now and no better forum than FinovateEurope. To learn more about how to demo your latest innovation at FinovateEurope 2022 in London, March 22-23, visit our FinovateEurope hub today!

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