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Capital for Credit Unions: VyStar Invests $20 Million in NYMBUS CUSO

Capital for Credit Unions: VyStar Invests $20 Million in NYMBUS CUSO
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Credit Unions, Funding, NYMBUS

In what the Miami, Florida-based fintech called a “landmark” fundraising, NYMBUS announced today that its new credit union service organization (CUSO) has secured $20 million in funding from VyStar Credit Union. The investment is the largest ever fintech funding round on behalf of a credit union.

“VyStar understands the challenges faced by the credit union industry, and we work diligently to identify the right partners like Nymbus that can deliver the disruptive solutions needed to help them thrive in today’s competitive environment,” VyStar EVP & Chief Operations Officer Chad Meadows said.

Founded last month, Nymbus CUSO was launched to help connect credit unions with fintechs to enable them to take advantage of new offerings that enhance services for customers and provide new growth opportunities for businesses. Former president and CEO of Partners Federal Credit Union, John Janclaes has been named President of Nymbus CUSO, and will lead the organization in its mission to serve as a “digital advocate for credit unions.”

“Based on the overwhelming response that Nymbus CUSO has already received in the market, we clearly address an overlooked opportunity for helping credit unions play to their strengths and make serious growth gains without breaking technology budgets,” Nymbus CEO and chairman Jeffery Kendall explained. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with VyStar in the effort, which is now accelerared with this considerable investment.”

The 16th largest credit union in the U.S., with assets of more than $10.8 billion, VyStar Credit Union is based in Jacksonville, Florida and serves more than 750,000 members from the 49 contiguous counties of North and Central Florida, as well as 10 counties in Southern Georgia. VyStar CU opened its 60th branch in February and, in March, announced that it had agreed to acquire Heritage Southeast Bank based in Jonesboro, Georgia.

“Today’s record investment speaks volumes to the confidence VyStar has placed in this new CUSO,” VyStar Chief Member Experience Officer Joel Swanson said in this week’s funding announcement. “Nymbus has come up with an entirely new approach for credit unions to innovate quickly for members that incorporates a truly sustainable growth strategy.”

Nymbus made fintech headlines just last week with news of a $15 million investment round led by Financial Services Capital. The round nearly doubled the FSC’s total investment in Nymbus and gives the firm more than $98 million in total capital raised. Nymbus began the year with the appointment of three women – Trish North, Michelle Prohaska, and Crina Pupaza – to C-level, executive positions. Founded in 2015, Nymbus most recently demoed its technology at FinovateFall in 2019.

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Greenlight Almost Doubles Valuation in $260 Million Round

Greenlight Almost Doubles Valuation in $260 Million Round
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding

Greenlight, a company that provides financial services technology for kids, announced today it has landed $260 million in funding. Today’s investment nearly doubles the Georgia-based company’s valuation, boosting it up to $260 million.

The Series D round, which brings Greenlight’s total funding to more than $550 million, was led by Andreessen Horowitz with participation from existing investors TTV Capital, Canapi Ventures, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, BOND, Fin VC, Goodwater Capital. New investors Wellington Management, Owl Ventures, and LionTree Partners also participated. Andreessen Horowitz General Partner David George will join Greenlight’s board of directors.

As for Greenlight’s valuation, the company saw an increase from $1.2 billion to $2.3 billion over the course of six months.

Greenlight will use today’s funds to add more services to its platform, increase its distribution partnerships, and expand to more geographies to ultimately reach more families. Additionally, the company will use the investment to increase its human resources, with a plan to add 300 employees over the next two years.

“Our vision at Greenlight is to create a world where every child grows up to be financially healthy and happy,” said Greenlight Co-founder and CEO Tim Sheehan. “Today’s financing will enable us to bring even more value to families as we continue to introduce new innovative products that shine a light on the world of money.”

Founded in 2014, Greenlight offers a money management platform for families that helps three million parents and kids gain skills to manage their earnings, savings, spending, giving, and learn to invest via a debit card, companion app, and educational resources.

Greenlight has struck a chord with its family-based finances approach. In the past year, the company has more than tripled its year-over-year revenue, more than doubled its users, and doubled its workforce. Earlier this year, Greenlight launched a new products, Greenlight Max, which helps kids research and invest in stocks with parental approval.

“The demand for Greenlight’s family finance solution continues to grow,” said Greenlight Co-founder and President Johnson Cook. “With the support of our investors, we look forward to empowering even more parents to raise financially-smart kids.”

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Brex Scores $425 Million to Fuel All-in-One Finance Platform for SMEs

Brex Scores $425 Million to Fuel All-in-One Finance Platform for SMEs
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Funding

In a round led by Tiger Global, financial services and technology company Brex has raised $425 million, boosting its valuation to more than $7.4 billion.

“Our investors – new and existing – believe in our team, our business model, our product vision, our customers, and the future of Brex,” company co-CEO Henrique Dubugras said. “We are delighted to have them on board for the next phase of our journey.”

Speaking of the next phase, today’s investment comes as the company, which began with a corporate credit card product for venture-backed startups four years ago, announced the launch of a new all-in-one finance platform. The new offering combines spend management technology with billpay in a single dashboard and will be available for $49 a month. The platform facilitates responsible employee spending via corporate and vendor cards, eliminating the need for expense reports and personal reimbursements. Business owners can also easily track spending across business divisions to better understand spending trends by department, merchant, account, as well as by individual employees.

“Growing and maintaining a business should not depend on how good a small business owner is at managing their finances,” Brex CTO Cosmin Nicolaescu said. “Our all-in-one finance solution gives business owners peace of mind, and the time back to do more of what they love and remember why they started their business.”

In addition to this news, the fact that Brex applied to establish a “Brex Bank” earlier this year suggests that the company also could be en route to offering FDIC insured products to small businesses without requiring an intermediary bank as a partner.

“Brex Bank will expand upon its existing suite of financial products and business software, offering credit solutions and FDIC insured deposit products to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs),” the company noted in February. “Brex and Brex Bank will work in tandem to help SMBs grow to realize their full potential.”

Located in San Francisco, California, Brex includes ecommerce platforms like Cheers and Dr. Squatch, accounting companies like Pilot and Kruze, and startups like Hourly and Bounce among its customers. Founded in 2017, Brex enables companies in a variety of industries to better manage their finances via a combination of payment and cash management solutions. In the first quarter of this year, Brex reported customer growth of 80% and total monthly customer addition gains of 5x. The company said that 45% of its customers are currently small and medium-sized businesses.

“Brex is building the future of finance for the next generation of businesses,” Tiger Global partner Scott Shleifer said. “We are excited to partner with them as they continue growing rapidly, innovating their product offerings, expanding their customer base and leading an industry that is dominated by incumbents.”

Also participating in this week’s Series D round were new investors TCV, GIC, Baillie Gifford, Mardrone Capital Partners, Durable Capital Partners LP, Valiant Capital Management, and Base10. Existing investors Y Combinator Continuity, Ribbit Capital, DST Global, Greenoaks Capital, Lone Pine Capital, and IVP were also involved in the investment.

Photo by Felix Mittermeier from Pexels

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The Future of Banking in a Digital-First World

The Future of Banking in a Digital-First World
By Charlie Burgess Posted on
Categories: Sponsored

This is a sponsored post by Quantum Metric, Gold Sponsors of FinovateSpring.

One of my favorite sayings about digital banking is that the largest branch in the world is now in your pocket.

The retail banking customer journey has become more complex than ever before. Each day, clients are moving between a number of devices, which means that banks need to find new ways to study, monitor, view, and study the cross-device journey, especially on mobile devices.

It goes without saying that, for traditional retail banks, Covid-19 accelerated the shift to digital. But in-person branch use was already declining before that.

The good news for retail banks? Current federal regulations mean that elements of the in-person experience will remain important, so branches aren’t disappearing entirely. In addition to finding ways to boost in-person engagement at branches, retail banks have the extra challenge of offering omnichannel digital experiences that are on par with those offered by the latest fintech startups, like Robinhood, as well as other household apps, such as Amazon, Airbnb, and Twitter.

The boom in fintech, and especially the rise of neobanks like Chime and Ally, means that more clients are choosing banks that don’t offer in-branch services, where customers get the typical one-on-one service from a teller. Popular peer-to-peer and peer-to-business payments services such as Venmo, PayPal, Square, and CashApp have put additional pressure on retail banks to offer standout mobile experiences.

As traditional banks look to remain competitive with fintech startups, they will need to offer digital experiences that streamline everyday banking processes. Clients want to open new accounts, apply for credit cards, and deposit mobile checks with as few clicks as possible, and directly from their mobile devices.

Fintech startups have a leg up on retail banks because they offer fewer services and leverage the most advanced cloud technology. Many retail banks are burdened by legacy platforms, outdated processes that slow things down, and poor alignment within the organization.

Many banking clients miss the benefits of in-person engagement, especially seeing a friendly face at their local banking branch. Retail banks can approximate the friendliness of in-person service by doubling down on their digital channels, which means offering applications with intuitive user interfaces and user experiences. Above all, people want simplicity, transparency, and speed.

Banks and other financial institutions have the added burden of navigating complex federal regulations. These institutions are responsible for safeguarding clients’ money and remaining compliant with both local and federal laws. A few small errors can not only break trust with clients, but lead to millions of dollars worth of fines.

As banks double down on digital channels, they need to introduce the perfect amount of user friction for tasks such as opening accounts, filling out loan applications, and transferring funds. One small click can lead to major problems or misplaced funds, so making clients re-enter passwords or confirm transactions can build major trust.

On the other hand, too many steps in a workflow leads to abandoned applications, lower conversion rates, and frustrated customers. Worse yet, clumsy designs and technical errors often make it impossible for clients to complete tasks without assistance from a call center. There will always be technical errors, and to solve this, banks can put clients in contact with agents by providing pop-ups that include a direct phone number or a chat window when a problem arises.

Once banks have the basics down, they can invest in hyper-personalization, which helps clients feel more connected to their products. Erica, Bank of America’s Voice Assistant, has helped revolutionize the mobile banking experience. The AI-powered chatbot helps clients answer pressing questions about their banking needs, making it easier for them to find answers for common questions.

As retail banks rebound from the Covid-19 pandemic, they will need to engage in data-driven design thinking to ensure that each digital product decision benefits clients. That is why we have built the Quantum Metric platform, which helps retail banking teams act with more agility. Our methodology, known as Continuous Product Design, helps teams from across an organization align on the product decisions that will have the greatest impact on customers and the business’s bottom line.

In today’s digital-first world, retail banks need to identify problems before they impact a large segment of users, as well as anticipate potential issues as before they happen. That’s why our platform offers real-time analytics and anomaly detection technology. Our platform can help digital teams at retail banks pinpoint a broken button that causes conversion rates to plummet, pinpoint fraudulent activity from bots (e.g., too many login attempts), and much more.

Once retail banking teams get a handle on their omnichannel experience, they can begin expanding into other services and offering additional resources, such as financial education resources. The move to digital provides ample opportunities for diversification. Now banks need to use data-driven design thinking to determine what’s next.

Learn more >

Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

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Europe’s Robinhood Brings in the Bucks with $80 Million Investment

Europe’s Robinhood Brings in the Bucks with $80 Million Investment
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Currency Cloud, Finovate Global, Fintech OS, Moven, Revolut, Tinkoff Bank, VISA

In a round led by Prosus Ventures and Tencent, Amsterdam-based fintech BUX has secured $80 million in funding that will fuel both international expansion and new product development. The investment also featured a change in the leadership ranks at the company, with founder Nick Bortot handing over the CEO reins to COO Yorick Naeff.

“With this new funding round, BUX will continue to spearhead innovation by implementing advanced features to further shape the future of how Europeans invest,” Naeff said. We are extremely grateful to have top tier investors like Prosus Ventures and Tencent onboard to support us in our mission.”

With half a million customers in the Netherlands, Austria, Belgium, France, and Germany, BUX enables investors to buy and sell shares and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), without having to pay commissions. Dubbed the “Robinhood of Europe”, BUX is a response to what Naeff said is a growing awareness of the importance of investing by younger Europeans. Naeff underscored financial uncertainty as a major concern among the younger generation and credited them for realizing that investing is “one of the few viable ways left” to manage that uncertainty. The self-directed nature of investing on BUX’s platform – for shares and ETFs, as well as cryptocurrencies on its BUX Crypto app, and CFDs on its BUX X solution – is another appealing aspect, Naeff said.

“Traditional financial market investing comes with a lot of friction and we firmly believe in the democratization of access to financial services for the next generation of investors,” Head of Europe Investments for Prosus Ventures Sandeep Bakshi said. “The existing solutions are expensive, complex and not designed for younger generations.” Alex Leung, Assistant GM at Tencent, Strategic Development, noted that Bux’s business model does not depend on some of the revenue-raising strategies that have been criticized at rivals like Robinhood. “BUX is the only neo-broker in Europe that offers zero commission investing without being dependent on kickbacks or payments for order flow,” Leung said. “This ensures that its interests are fully aligned with its customers.”

No valuation information was provided as part of the funding announcement. The company noted that its signature BUX Zero solution “has more than doubled its assets under management” in the past three months.

Here is our weekly look at fintech around the world.

Central and Southern Asia

Latin America and the Caribbean

Asia-Pacific

Sub-Saharan Africa

Central and Eastern Europe

Middle East and Northern Africa

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HSBC Rolls Out Recycled Plastic Payment Cards

HSBC Rolls Out Recycled Plastic Payment Cards
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Green Banking, HSBC

We’ve seen a widening range of ways that fintechs and financial services companies are responding to the global crisis of climate change. Finovate Best of Show winner Meniga, as just one example, teamed up with Iceland’s Islandsbanki earlier this year to launch its carbon footprint tracking, green banking solution, Carbon Insight. In March, we looked at 25 different fintech companies that were “going green” with initiatives that ranged from leveraging customer deposits to fund “climate-positive projects” to helping investors build portfolios of low carbon companies.

Today we learned that HSBC is commemorating this year’s Earth Day with news that it plans to eliminate single-use PVC plastic payment cards by the end of 2026. Instead, the bank will use recycled PVC plastic (rPVC), a shift already underway in markets like Malaysia and Sri Lanka. The new cards, part of HSBC’s goal of reducing its carbon emissions and reaching net zero in both operations and supply chain by 2030, are expected to reach the U.K. by summer, with markets in South Asia and North America – including the U.S. – getting the new cards by the end of the year.

“This is another step as we move towards a net zero business, to help the bank and our customers make a positive impact on the environment,” HSBC group head of retail banking products Richard Harvey said.

An issuer of 23 million cards a year, the transition to the rPVC-based cards is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 161 tons a year. The switch will also result in a significant reduction in plastic waste — by 73 tons a year.

Not all who heard HSBC’s Earth Day message were moved, unfortunately. A small group of climate change activists broke windows at the bank’s Canary Wharf headquarters as part of a protest against HSBC’s business with fossil fuel-based companies. Nine women were eventually arrested in the protest, which was planned by a group called Extinction Rebellion.

And while the incident likely took some of the shine away from the HSBC’s environment-positive messaging, when it comes to Earth Day activism, it could have been worse …

Photo by Anete Lusina from Pexels

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Beyond Good and the Power of Purpose-Driven Fintech

Beyond Good and the Power of Purpose-Driven Fintech
By Charlie Burgess Posted on
Categories: Book Review, Diversity in Fintech, FinovateSpring 2021, Speaker series, Women in Fintech

When we think of global corporations and business in general, do we feel pride in how we do things? Beyond Good, a new book by Unconventional Ventures co-founders Theodora Lau and Bradley Leimer, is a call to arms for business leaders to recognize how they can do well by doing good.

Beyond Good showcases how fintech is changing business models and what every industry can learn from it. The leaders in financial services are fostering a thriving ecosystem of incumbents and startups, unlocking new possibilities to make broader financial inclusion a reality.

With a foreword from the Aspen Institute, exclusive interviews with leading B-Corps, policy makers, executives, and case studies from companies like Sunrise Banks, Ant Group, Village Capital, Microsoft, and PayPal, Beyond Good shows how everyone can contribute to a more common good. Finovate readers can also get 20% off their copy of the book, using code Inspire20.

Below are a few excerpts from our conversation with Theo and Brad on the new book and their upcoming appearance at FinovateSpring next month. For the full interview, check out the video above.

On the importance of financial inclusion

Theo Lau: “If we talk about the onset of the so-called fintech revolution, if you will, a lot of the new startups seemed to regurgitate old ideas that have already been around. They make it prettier, they create this bamboo credit card … But it that really changing our behavior, is it really changing how we work? In the West, are we really including more demographics and doing things better for them? I would argue a lot of the time we are not.”

Bradley Leimer: “Inclusivity goes much broader than just a credit card or just lending or just credit. And that’s a lot of what we discuss. There’s more to a financial relationship than one side of the balance sheet. There’s more to the financial services model than just profitability. There are longer term implications in everything we do every single day and every decision that we make.”

Why fintechs and financial services need to move “beyond good.”

Leimer: “We’ve seen a lot of stakeholder capitalism lately and examples of companies that have tried to mean more for their business model and their communities. That’s what we celebrate in the book, the shift that we can include more people in our communities in society. Especially in financial services and technology, companies we really need to focus how we can serve these larger groups. Everybody in society should be able to be a part of our business models. And that’s why we go “beyond good.”

Lau: “We want to reinforce that this is not a zero-sum game. Just because we are including more demographics and more considerations on how we conduct business doesn’t mean you’re losing. Case in point, one of the things lately we’ve been talking about is student loan debt, $1.7 trillion dollars of debt. Obviously the burden is shared across all demographics, but particularly in communities of color, among first generation college students, and among those in other less advantaged groups.

So our question is: how do we go about solving it? There are a lot of different moving parts. But for financial services, the role isn’t just to offer another loan on top of the pile of deb because that’s not solving the problem. We need to go back further to ask how we create a more equal society, more equal products, and create services to help people rethink their finances and get to a healthier financial situation.”

Join Theo Lau and Bradley Leimer at FinovateSpring May 10 through 13. For more information about our upcoming, all digital, spring fintech conference, visit our FinovateSpring hub today.

Photo by Steve Johnson from Pexels

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MX and Moov Bring Instant Account Verification to Fintechs

MX and Moov Bring Instant Account Verification to Fintechs
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, MX

MX, which began the year with a $300 million investment that boosted its valuation to $1.9 billion, is collaborating with developer-first payments platform Moov Financial to give fintechs and other companies instant account verification (IAV) and money movement.

“Moov is transforming the way fintechs enable account verification, money movement, and ACH payments through APIs,” MX cofounder and CTO Brandon Dewitt said. “We align with their mission to help fintechs and organizations focus on building amazing new experiences. Fintechs like Moov are a big reason why a massive digital shift is happening across the banking industry.”

Moov enables platforms, marketplaces, and software companies to embed payment functionality into their solutions, providing seamless money acceptance, storage, and disbursement. The combined, turnkey solution enhances the account verification process, providing a faster, more secure, and reliable experience for customers who are adding banking or payment functionality to their offerings.

“Whether you think of yourself as a fintech or not, every modern company is seeking a way to automate its process to accept, store, and disburse money,” Moov CEO Wade Arnold said. “Developers want the best user experience possible for their application. MX’s ability to provide fast IAV makes the payment experience swift and more seamless than it would have been without the joint solution.”

A multiple time Finovate Best of Show winner, MX provides connectivity and data enhancement for more than 16,000 financial institutions and fintechs – including 85% of digital banking providers. Among the Utah-based firm’s most recent collaborations is its partnership with AbbyBank. The $616 million asset community-owned bank launched its PFM solution – an embeddable digital money management tool powered by MX and offering budgeting, subscription tracking, debt management, and more – in March.

“With MX, AbbyBank is giving its customers across Wisconsin greater clarity into their personal finances,” MX Chief Customer Officer Nate Gardner said. “(It’s) exactly the kind of innovation, partnership and money experience that MX loves to enable through our powerful data platform.”

Founded in 2010, MX most recently demonstrated its technology at FinovateFall 2019.

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Banking Technology Provider NYMBUS Scores $15 Million Investment

Banking Technology Provider NYMBUS Scores $15 Million Investment
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Diversity in Fintech, Funding, NYMBUS, Women in Fintech

News of NYMBUS’ $15 million fundraising this week – and the company’s recent appointment of three women to key leadership positions – serves as a fitting bookend to a first quarter that began with big investment and big C-suite hires, as well.

In January, the Miami, Florida-based banking technology provider expanded its leadership team with the addition of Chief Alliance Officer Sarah Howell and Chief Product Officer Larry McClanahan. A month later, Nymbus secured a Series C investment of $53 million in a round led by Insight Partners.

“As the pandemic has pushed digital to the forefront, more banks and credit unions have turned to Nymbus as their partner for growth,” Nymbus CEO and Chairman Jeffery Kendall said when the funding was announced in February. “This new and significant investment validates a confidence in Nymbus to continue transforming the financial services industry with a banking strategy that buys back decades of lost time to speed digital innovation.”

Little did we know how quickly further valuation would arrive. This week’s investment by European private equity firm Financial Services Capital doubles its investment in Nymbus to more than $31 million. The funding gives Nymbus a total capital raised of more than $98 million.

“We look forward to continue working with Nymbus as they build out a best-in-class, cloud-native offering that is well positioned to be a leader in the industry and will transform our portfolio companies,” Financial Services Capital Managing Partner Miroslav Boublik said. He and fellow Managing Partner Matthew Hansen will join the Nymbus Board of Directors as part of the investment.

Also joining “Team Nymbus” is Veeva Systems co-founder Matt Wallach, who will serve as a Strategic Advisor. Nymbus will benefit from Wallach’s experience in co-founding one of the leading cloud software companies in life sciences. Founded in 2007 and, 14 years later, the first publicly traded company to transition into a public benefit corporation, Veeva now has a market capitalization of more than $40 billion and 975+ customers in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as in emerging biotech.

As mentioned, Nymbus’ funding announcement comes on the heels of the company further bolstering its leadership ranks with a trio of new, C-suite hires. The women – Trish North as Chief Customer Officer, Michelle Prohaska as Chief Compliance Officer, and Crina Pupaza as Chief People Officer – bring years of customer success, risk management, and people-centered programming experience to a company that has seen significant growth as banks turn increasingly toward digital transformation of their outdated legacy systems.

“In order to help our partner institutions serve the unique financial needs of niche audiences, success begins with diversity in our own Nymbus leadership,” Kendall said last week when the appointments were announced. “I’m incredibly proud of the impactful effort we are making to recruit a balanced male to female representation into our C-suite, and beyond confident of the value that Trish, Michelle, and Crina will each uniquely provide to both our team and partner clients.”

Photo by Abdullah Almutairi from Pexels

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Fintech Trends Budding Up this Spring

Fintech Trends Budding Up this Spring
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateSpring 2021, Julie's Column

We’re four and a half months into 2021, and we’re already starting to see the fintech and banking industries shake off the 2020 mindset.

That’s not to say that companies have left behind their digital agendas that took precedence last year. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Banks and fintechs have transitioned to apply the lessons they learned amid the massive growth period last year into new initiatives.

So what new frontiers does the industry have its eye on? I took an early look at some of the trends beginning to emerge at our upcoming FinovateSpring conference, taking place digitally May 10 through 13.

Here are the top three themes from the discussion sessions:

  • Embedded finance and banking-as-a-service
    These two intertwined trends have exploded in the past year. Embedded finance and the concept’s predecessor, banking-as-a-service, are helping non-banking companies leverage fintech to offer financial services to their clients. Food delivery, ridesharing, and big tech companies have all benefitted from offering their customers a form of banking services.

    Increased customer awareness and demand are tipping the scales on these tandem trends this spring, rising them to the top. Thanks to the pandemic driving much of our everyday lives into the online realm, customers have realized the convenience that comes from being able to combine banking tasks with everyday activities.
  • The ESG initiative
    Technologies and products that tackle environmental, social, and governance (or ESG) issues are nothing new. However, over the course of the first half of this year we’ve seen more fintech and banking players getting in on the action.

    Both new and incumbent players have heard consumers’ cries for a more sustainable approach to managing their financial lives. To meet this demand, companies are doing everything from making carbon neutral pledges, to offering wooden payment cards, to using customer deposits to fund sustainable initiatives and donating profits to reforestation efforts.
  • CBDCs and digital currencies
    While central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, should have been on banks’ radars last year, the global pandemic took precedence. Today, while the industry is still working on reimagining the digital experience, there has been more space to think about operating in a future where CBDCs and other digital currencies are commonplace.

    There are currently six countries piloting CBDCs, while many others have made key developments in implementing a formal release of CBDCs. The U.S. has stated that it will not race other countries to the finish line of launching its own CBDC. The country has still signaled some progress toward its own digital currency, however, which has turned the attention of many in the fintech space.

In addition to these, experts will be discussing themes from previous years, including customer experience, AI, digital transformation, and faster payments – as well as fringe topics such as quantum computing.

Taking a look at content from the developer-focused track, FinDEVr, we’ll see an in-depth look at the technology behind open banking, customer onboarding, lending-as-a-service, and customer experience and design. FinDEVr will take place on May 13.

Check out more information on how you can save on tickets to both FinovateSpring and FinDEVr, held May 10 through 13 in Central Standard Time.

Photo by Alexandru Dinca from Pexels

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Mastercard to Acquire Digital Identity Specialist Ekata for $850 Million

Mastercard to Acquire Digital Identity Specialist Ekata for $850 Million
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, MasterCard, Mergers & Acquisitions

Mastercard’s announced $850 million acquisition of digital identity firm Ekata is a reminder that there is no way forward in digital commerce without a 21st century attitude toward issues of security and trust.

“The shift to a more digital world requires real solutions to secure every transaction and instill trust in every interaction,” Mastercard president of cyber and intelligence solutions Ajay Bhalla said. “With the addition of Ekata, we will advance our identity capabilities and create a safer, seamless way for consumers to prove who they say they are in the new digital economy.”

Seattle, Washington-based Ekata offers global identity verification to enable businesses around the world to link digital transactions to the people who make them. Via APIs and a SaaS tool, Ekata leverages data science and machine learning to help businesses detect fake accounts, cross-verify consumer data, reduce payment risk, and fight transaction fraud. With more than 2,000 corporate partners ranging from global merchants and financial institutions to marketplaces and digital currency platforms, Ekata enables its businesses to gain unique and valuable insights that allow them to make better risk decisions about their customers.

“The acceleration of online transactions has thrust global digital identity verification to the forefront as one of the biggest opportunities to build digital trust and combat global fraud,” Ekata CEO Rob Eleveld said. “The right identity verification solutions enable inclusive and frictionless experiences while, at the same time, ensuring customer privacy, control and security. Becoming part of the Mastercard Identity family ensures a broader, collective approach to meeting the growing demands of the digital economy.”

Founded in 2019, Ekata unveiled its merchant onboarding solution earlier this month. Designed to meet the needs of PSPs, B2B lenders, and marketplaces working with smaller, micro-merchants and sole proprietors, Ekata’s new platform automates the onboarding process via API and provides for more efficient manual review with a SaaS solution.

“Merchants today have plenty of options and will quickly turn to another payment service provider if an organization adds too much friction at onboarding or takes too long on approvals,” Ekata VP of Global Marketing Beth Shulkin said in a statement. “This is much more than a customer experience issue for PSPs and lenders; losing the lifetime value of a merchant has real bottom-line impact.”

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Sensibill Brings SKU-Level Data Insights to AbbyBank

Sensibill Brings SKU-Level Data Insights to AbbyBank
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Daily news, Sensibill

A new partnership between AbbyBank and FinovateFall Best of Show winner Sensibill will enable the Wisconsin-based community bank to give its customers the ability to de-clutter and digitize their financial lives.

“In today’s online world, customers expect more convenience to bank how they want,” AbbyBank AVP of Marketing Natalyn Jannene said. “Our partnership with Sensibill will help our customers and employees with digitizing the shoebox of receipts or overstuffed purses and wallets, making it easier for them to track receipts, exchanges, and warranties in one place.”

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Sensibill offers a receipt management solution that makes it easier to organize and track everything from Health Savings Account receipts to expenses from government relief programs like the Paycheck Protection Program. Sensibill’s everyday financial tools give financial institutions the ability to tap into – and act upon – SKU-level transaction data in order to provide their customers with the kind of personalized financial insights that can help them build better financial habits. More than 60 million individuals across North America and the U.K. use Sensibill’s AI-powered technology.

The company’s newest solution – Sensibill Platform – features a pair of new tools – Spend Manager and Spend Insights – that provide financial institutions with more ways to drive digital engagement with their customers and members. Spend Manager leverages predictive analytics to help customers track and manage their everyday spending, while providing personalized tips and custom advice based on their transactions. Spend Insights enables financial institutions to draw upon more than 150 unique points of data from purchases, and pair them with transaction data to anticipate customer needs and preferences in real-time.

“Sensibill is empowering institutions of all sizes to harness SKU-level data to offer personalized experiences and recommendations that help make customers’ hard-earned money go further,” Sensibill co-founder and CEO Corey Gross explained when the platform was unveiled in January. “The time to act is now – by better contextualizing the transaction-level data they already have with SKU-level insights, institutions can help their customers make smarter financial decisions. Those that do will retain loyalty and expand market share while making financial wellness more attainable for all.”

In addition to its newly-announced partnership with AbbyBank, Sensibill in recent months has also teamed up with Leaders Credit Union of Jacksonville, Tennessee ($520 million in assets) and Progress Bank, a $1.4 billion asset bank that serves customers in Alabama and in the Florida panhandle. Last month, Sensibill earned recognition as the winner of the “Personal Finance Innovation” category of the FinTech Breakthrough Awards.

A Finovate alum since 2017, Sensibill has raised more than $55 million in funding. The company’s investors include First Ascent Ventures, Information Ventures Partners, Impression Ventures, Mistral Venture Partners, and Radical Ventures. Sensibill also secured $5 million in debt financing from CIBC Innovation Banking a year ago.

This week’s partnership with Sensibill is only the latest instance of AbbyBank working with innovative fintechs in order to add to its own offerings. Last month, the Wisconsin-based community bank – with more than $616 million in assets – teamed up with another Best of Show-winning Finovate alum, MX, to power its new PFM solution.

“The goal is to help our customers improve their financial awareness,” Jannene said when the collaboration with MX was announced in March. “Knowing where money is spent allows you to manage your money more effectively. When our customers succeed, we succeed and that is truly what AbbyBank is here for.”

Photo by shravan khare from Pexels

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