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A Look at Up and Coming Fintechs in India and Africa

A Look at Up and Coming Fintechs in India and Africa
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global, Twisto

With 2021 underway, fintech analysts and observers have begun sharing their lists of companies they expect to do big things in the coming year. This week, Finovate Global Lists shares two compilations of fintech startups from India and Africa that are raising millions in capital and bringing a variety of digital financial services to underserved consumers and businesses.

In India, these innovators range from online payments and banking technology company Cashfree to crypto trading platform CoinDCX (which we profiled in Finovate Global last spring). Inc42’s Suprita Anupam notes that the global health crisis of COVID-19 served “as a booster” for India’s fintech sector, citing year-on-year growth in transaction volumes of 70%.

Looking at fintech in sub-Saharan Africa, TechCabal’s Alexander Onukwue leverages Disrupt Africa’s 2020 tech startups funding report to highlight emerging African fintechs. Fara Jituboh-Ashiru’s Okra, which enables bank accountholders to link their accounts with lending and banking apps, and P2P mobile payments company Chipper Cash, were among the companies highlighted in Onukwue’s survey.

Javier García

This week our Finovate Global Voices feature comes to us courtesy of Nathan Lustig, entrepreneur, investor, and managing partner at Magma Partners. Launched in 2014 and headquartered in Santiago, Chile, Magma Partners is an early stage investment company that specializes in Latin American startups innovating in fintech, insurtech, and infrastructure.

Among the firm’s portfolio companies are Billpocket, the “Square of Latin America”; Albo, a mobile banking service for the unbanked; and an Ecuadorian/Colombian fintech, Kushki, based in U.S. that seeks to be the “Stripe of Latin America.”

Lustig is also a podcaster, and in his most recent Crossing Borders Podcast, he talks with Javier García, Director of Corporate Venturing and Growth Capital at the corporate VC fund of Mexican conglomerate FEMSA.

The two discuss the work of FEMSA’s fund in Latin America, including the firm’s investment strategy, recommendations for fintechs working with incumbents, and lessons García has learned in working with startups.

Here is our look at fintech innovation 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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Deciens Capital’s Dan Kimerling on Seed Funding and Emerging Fintech

Deciens Capital’s Dan Kimerling on Seed Funding and Emerging Fintech
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Speaker series

I came across Dan Kimerling while chasing down the latest investment insights from Cathie Wood, whose ARK investment funds have been among the most sought-after, best-performing funds for the past few years. Dedicated explicitly to the most disruptive companies in the most disruptive sectors of the economy, Wood’s ARK funds are an interesting place to look when trying to learn about those companies that could become the next Amazon, or the next Tesla.

One of the people ARK’s analysts have turned for insight into disruption in the fintech industry specifically is Dan Kimerling, co-founder and Managing Partner of Deciens Capital. As Kimerling explained in an interview from last fall, he realized early in his career that there were “incredible” venture capital funds involved in fintech and “incredible” venture capitalists involved in seed funding, but “there’s nothing at that intersection of fintech early stage capital.”

He added, “… and where there is capital, it rarely will lead financings. A lot of them will be follow-on financings or if they are angels or smaller managers, they are not in a position to lead rounds.” He said that if Deciens stood for one thing, it’s leading seed rounds in fintech companies in the United States.

What has Kimerling’s attention as we move into 2021? As someone who saw back in 2012 that open APIs were the future of banking, Kimerling now underscores three factors that will drive fintech evolution in the coming years. These include what he calls “the scope of the prize” – fintech’s massive opportunity as 20% of GDP – as well as the rise of embedded finance which will enable more companies to participate and compete in financial services, driving competition and innovation.

Perhaps most interesting is the one factor Kimerling called “the most exciting”: the development of a cultural “context where smart ambitious professionals, especially early career professionals, feel like working on innovative businesses is a socially acceptable career trajectory.”

Check out his conversation with ARK Invest’s Max Friedrich and George Whitridge (currently of Graham Capital Management) from October 2020.

Launched in 2012, Deciens Capital supports early-stage companies in a wide range of fintech areas including payments, lending, insurance, regtech, and financial wellness. Among the firm’s portfolio companies are Chipper Cash – which raised more than $44 million in funding last year – Funding University, and Finovate alum True Link Financial.

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How Plaid is Helping to Level the Fintech Playing Field

How Plaid is Helping to Level the Fintech Playing Field
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Diversity in Fintech, Plaid

Banking technology innovator Plaid is kicking off Black History Month ahead of schedule this year. The San Francisco-based company announced the launch of FinRise today. FinRise is a nine month accelerator program designed to support early-stage founders who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC).

“While technology has come a long way to level the playing field, the reality is that many minority-owned businesses are still frequently denied access to some of the most basic resources needed to start and grow their businesses,” the company said in a blog post.

The program, which was developed during an internal hackathon, offers three key areas of support:

  1. Access to capital and services
    Plaid is leveraging its network of venture capital firms, network service providers, and accelerators to offer startups networking opportunities, discounted services and ad credits, and pitch practice.
  2. Resources for growth
    The program will kick off with a three-day virtual bootcamp led by Plaid experts and other thought leaders who will lead workshops on technical, product, and business topics. The sessions will focus on topics like communication and storytelling, engineering best practices, navigating the policy and regulatory landscapes, and designing user-centric experiences. 
  3. Mentorship and support
    Participants will receive support for nine months following the bootcamp. In addition to benefitting from others in the bootcamp cohort, startups will have access to a dedicated account manager, an internal skillshare network, and mentorship from Plaid leaders.

The FinRise program certainly fills a gap. Historically, much of the attention on diversity has been focused on driving more women into the fintech sector. With Black History Month starting in February and the Black Lives Matter Movement still fresh in everyone’s mind, we can expect to see more initiatives dedicated to solving the gap in ethnic diversity in fintech and the technology field in general.

The first FinRise program will take place from April to December, 2021.

Eligible startups are U.S.-based, BIPOC majority-owned businesses incorporated in the United States with two or more employees. A panel of Plaid leaders will select the participants, giving preference to those that offer a product that leverages financial data.

Founders can apply starting today and the first cohort will be announced in early March.

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Women in Fintech: Kathy Strasser on How Changing Conversations Makes Innovation Happen

Women in Fintech: Kathy Strasser on How Changing Conversations Makes Innovation Happen
By Charlie Burgess Posted on
Categories: Women in Fintech

As part of our ongoing #WomeninFinTech series, we spoke with Kathy Strasser, Chief Operating Officer/Chief Information Officer at IncredibleBank about her experiences in and thoughts on the fintech industry today.

To start, please tell us a little about yourself and how you became involved in banking and fintech?

Strasser: After a 20-year career at Wausau Financial Systems (WFS) in various roles throughout the organization, I was approached by IncredibleBank’s CEO Todd Nagel (then River Valley Bank). He wanted a non-banker with a technology background to help him launch the internet-only division of River Valley Bank, IncredibleBank, into a leading digital bank reaching customers across the entire United States.

I never imagined myself working for a bank until 2015 when I joined as the EVP and Chief Operations Officer. Over the next few years, I’d play a key role in accelerating the growth of the bank and its digital transformation on both the technology and people side of our business.

While technology and payments are strong interests of mine, I’m most passionate about leading people, which is what IncredibleBank allows me to do. In my current position, I’m responsible for helping people find their motivation and providing them with purpose and the autonomy to be brilliant at what they do. By nature, I’m a problem solver, change guru, and love everything happening with digital transformation.

How have you seen the financial services industry change in 2020, and where is it headed in 2021?

Strasser: The work we’ve done over the past five years prepared us for this shift to digital technology. Our people were ready to meet the needs of our customers in a remote environment. We leaned on the expertise of employees from all parts of the organization for the PPP program, in addition to helping 1,000+ homeowners buy new or refinance their homes. We launched Zelle in September, made digital improvements to our customer experience, implemented new technology to help facilitate the PPP program, plus we became the first community bank to go live on TCH RTP in March.

We know that the momentum we have seen with digital is only going to continue and competition will shift as BigTech continues to make its foray into financial services. There are a few areas that are always top of mind for us: digital transformation and growth, continuing to master our incredible customer experience, talent management, employee engagement, and continuous growth in our business lines.

How can community banks make sure they’re not being left behind, especially when it comes to embracing new digital technology?

Strasser: Companies like Apple, Amazon, PayPal, and Starbucks are already in the payments space, which is traditionally a medium for banks to grow and retain deposit accounts as well as build customer relationships. We’ve remained competitive by prioritizing the customer experience and partnering with companies like Jack Henry to deliver new and innovative technology. Community banks need to stay at pace with this broader competitive market and having a differentiated customer experience that is both personal and meaningful is a strong start.

What does digital transformation entail within your institution?

Strasser: Digital transformation is about technology and people. Our people come first in our digital strategy and transformation, which is why culture must be approached with a growth mindset.

We start by mapping out our digital competencies and identifying areas of focus that will move the needle on customer experience. Some of these included the ability to confidently move between different devices and building relationships via digital channels. Our key values for our digital culture are speed, openness, and autonomy. Technology had to improve processes, productivity, and customer experience, delivering direct value to our institution and customers.

How can women help other women climb within the industry, and do you have any advice for those starting out their careers in technology or finance?

Strasser: The future is bright, and I highly recommend technology and finance for everyone, especially women. Women in the field can be a good example and share their experiences; I’m always willing to mentor, meet with young people getting ready to go to college, or those figuring out the next step in their career.

I’d give the following advice: 1) Focus on your role and how it contributes to the success of your company; 2) Seize new opportunities and don’t be afraid to ask; 3) Learn every single day; 4) Build relationships and your network; 6) Find guidance from someone greater.

What are fintechs and banks missing right now that women are uniquely positioned to help with? 

Strasser: With diversity comes a background of many different experiences and approaches to problem-solving, disagreements, negotiations, leadership style, and approach. Dynamics and conversations change when the table is filled with both men and women and as a result collaboration and innovation happen. For example, knowing a large percentage of women make household decisions is important when creating and seeking feedback on new products and features. For any growing company, it’s important to have a diversified pool of candidates to choose from, and that includes women.

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Czech Buy Now Pay Later Firm Twisto Secures €16 Million

Czech Buy Now Pay Later Firm Twisto Secures €16 Million
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Funding, Twisto

We’ve now reached the point in the Buy Now Pay Later revolution in which BNPL companies are investing in other BNPL companies. Today we learn that Zip, a Buy Now Pay Later firm based in Australia, has joined Elevator Ventures in leading a $19.5 million (€16 million) funding round for Twisto, a buy now pay later company based in the Czech Republic.

“We want to teach people to take advantage of payment tools the right way,” company CEO Michal Smida said, “to help them improve their family budgets and better manage their cash flow, especially during the time of COVID.”

Also participating in the funding were Finch Capital, Velocity Capital, ING Bank, and UNIQA, an insurance corporation based in Austria. Twisto’s total capital now stands at more than $61 million (EUR 50.5 million). The company will use the additional capital to help fuel further expansion across Europe. “(The funding) is a huge step that helps us continue in our mission to become a leading app in CEE region,” the company wrote on its LinkedIn page this week.

Twisto, which made its most recent Finovate appearance at our European conference in 2018, is a pioneer in the Buy Now Pay Later market in Central and Eastern Europe. Approximately 170,000 consumers have used Twisto’s app, leveraging the company’s risk-scoring engine to access deferred financing options on goods purchased online. Twisto offers consumers an interest-free, three-installment payment option, and also provides paid, premium plans that include features like Split the Bill, Twist Card with Google Pay, and Family Travel Insurance.

Smida believes that Twisto can play a role in changing attitudes toward credit in Europe, and encourage more Europeans to pursue better financing alternatives. Late last year, Twisto teamed up with ING Bank Śląski to invest $4.5 million (PLN 17 million) to develop Twisto Poland, and extend the company’s operations in the CEE. Twisto was founded in 2013.

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Four Fintechs Crowned Unicorns in the First 3 Weeks of 2021

Four Fintechs Crowned Unicorns in the First 3 Weeks of 2021
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: eToro, List series, Mambu, MX

There’s not much room in 2021 for 2020-style pessimism. Sure, if you look, you can find plenty of things to be negative about so far this year. However, one aspect of 2021 that’s giving fintechs hope is the recent uptick in valuations across the fintech sector.

Despite last year’s global events, many fintechs received valuations exceeding $1 billion. In fact, in December 2020 alone, four fintechs, including eToro, Creditas, PhonePE, and GoCardless, received unicorn status.

This year seems to be off to a similarly bullish start, with four fintechs becoming unicorns in just the first three weeks of 2021:

Digit Insurance

India-based Digit Insurance became India’s first unicorn of 2021 after the country saw 11 new unicorns in 2020. Just 15 days into the new year, and after raising $18.5 million, Digit Insurance unveiled a new valuation of $1.9 billion.

Divvy

Spend management startup Divvy received a valuation of $1.6 billion after its Series D round on January 5. The $165 million came from new investors PayPal Ventures, Whale Rock, Schonfeld, and previous backers NEA, Insight Venture Partners, Acrew, and Pelion. The pandemic has spurred increased traffic to Utah-based Divvy; the startup has experienced a 500% increase in monthly sign-ups since March 2020.

Mambu

SaaS banking platform Mambu earned its unicorn title after landing a $135 million investment on January 7. The boost gave the Germany-based company a post-money valuation of just over $2 billion. Mambu will use the funds to increase its presence in Brazil, Japan, and the U.S.

MX

The second fintech unicorn to come out of Lehi, Utah is fintech data company MX. Founded in 2010, MX raised $300 million in Series C funding on January 13, bringing the company’s total capital to $505 billion and boosting its valuation to $1.9 billion. Company CEO Ryan Caldwell said that MX will use the funds to hire more staff and improve its data collection and enhancement capabilities.

Photo by Stephen Leonardi on Unsplash

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Plastiq Announces Full Integration with Intuit QuickBooks

Plastiq Announces Full Integration with Intuit QuickBooks
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Intuit

With its announcement today, intelligent enterprise payment solutions provider Plastiq becomes the first company to fully integrate QuickBooks Online into its payments platform. The integration will enable businesses to take advantage of an automated payments reconciliation system that cuts costs, saves time, and eliminates the burden of manual data entry.

“Time and again, we’ve heard from our customers how crucial QuickBooks is to their record-keeping, but as a small business ourselves, we also recognize how time-consuming and error-prone it can be to manually maintain accurate QuickBooks records,” Plastiq co-founder and CEO Eliot Buchanan said. “By integrating QuickBooks into Plastiq, we’re giving businesses back vital time and resources while greatly reducing the chances of human error, enabling businesses to keep their eyes on innovating and propelling growth.”

The integration with QuickBooks will enable Plastiq users to import invoices directly, accelerating the process of identifying and populating essential data elements including vendor name, amount due, and more. After invoices have been paid via Plastiq, the payment information is exported back to QuickBooks to ensure accurate record-keeping for monthly reporting, tax returns, audits, and other compliance-related matters.

The full integration gives Plastiq an advantage over other platforms, whose partial integrations with QuickBooks still leave room for error, especially in the import/export process. This often means returning to manual data entry to make corrections, which not only takes up additional time and resources, but also re-opens the process to the potential for human error. With Plastiq’s full integration, by contrast, companies’ QuickBooks entries are “completely and accurately” updated to ensure both day-to-day accuracy as well as error-free monthly reconciliations and tax reporting.

Founded in 2012, San Francisco, California-based Plastiq ended 2020 with the launch of its new cash payments offering. The new feature enables businesses to pay all of their bills via their linked bank accounts, credit cards, or debit cards. Company Chief Product and Technology Officer Stoyan Kenderov said the addition provided a “fully integrated, intelligent payments solution that serves as a one-stop shop for all of businesses’ payment needs.”

Last fall, Plastiq’s Head of People, Angela Loeffler, was named to The Financial Technology Report’s 2020 Top 25 Women Leaders in Financial Technology roster. The company has raised more than $141 million in funding, most recently securing $75 million in a Series D round last spring led by B Capital Group.

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China’s ByteDance Launches Mobile Payments for Douyin

China’s ByteDance Launches Mobile Payments for Douyin
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

Beijing-based ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, launched a mobile payments service for Douyin, which is China’s version of TikTok.

The new mobile payments service, Douyin Pay, will compete with the likes of Tencent’s WeChat Pay and Alibaba’s Alipay. “The set-up of Douyin Pay is to supplement the existing major payment options, and to ultimately enhance user experience on Douyin,” a Douyin representative told Reuters.

Douyin Pay will also help Douyin expand into the ecommerce scene. That’s because while users are watching short video clips of influencers promoting products on the Douyin app, they can pay using Douyin Pay instead of with competing payment services.

Helping to power the new payment service is Wuhan Hezhong Yibao Technology Co., which ByteDance purchased for an undisclosed amount in September of last year. Hezhong Yibao received a third-party payment license from China’s central bank in 2014.

Last fall, ByteDance achieved a valuation of $100 billion, making it the most valuable privately-held startup. In 2019, the company’s e-commerce and TikTok brands accounted for 17% of its total revenue. This figure is expected to expand this year as ByteDance taps into the potential of short-form video apps.

Another player vying for space in the Chinese payments arena is PayPal, which recently took full ownership of China-based GoPay. The move marks PayPal as the first foreign operator with 100% control of a Chinese payment platform. PayPal’s aim with the purchase is to provide a cross-border payments solution for Chinese consumers and merchants.

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Finovate Alums and the History of Bitcoin Innovation

Finovate Alums and the History of Bitcoin Innovation
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: AlphaPoint, Alumni profile, Amber Labs, ArcBit, Bitbond, BlockCypher, Blockstack.io, Coinalytics, Coinbase, CoinJar, Gem, itBit, KlickEx, Ledger, OpenCoin, Plutus Software, Ripple, Stratumn

With bitcoin and cryptocurrencies enjoying renewed interest, it’s worth noting that many fintech fans encountered their first bitcoin-related businesses through Finovate conferences.

Here’s a look at some of the companies that have brought their bitcoin and crypto-powered innovations to the Finovate stage.

OpenCoin – FinovateSpring 2013 – The company now well-known as Ripple was introduced to Finovate audiences back in 2013. At FinovateSpring that year, Chris Larsen – CEO of a startup called OpenCoin – introduced its virtual currency and distributed open source payment network. Founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Ripple currently has more than 300 financial institutions who leverage its RippleNet blockchain network to power real-time payments.

KlickEx – FinovateAsia 2013 – New Zealand-based KlickEx unveiled its asset-backed and algorithmic cryptocurrency for institutional and retail users at FinovateAsia in 2013. The company, founded in 2009, recently announced a partnership with the National Reserve Bank of Tonga to launch a new national payment system.

Coinbase – FinovateSpring 2014 – Among the bigger names in bitcoin and cryptocurrency to have demonstrated their technology at Finovate conferences is San Francisco, California-based Coinbase. Debuting at Finovate with its Instant Exchange in 2014, Coinbase has grown into one of the biggest players in the cryptocurrency market with more than 35 million verified users and more than $320 billion in total volume traded on its platform.

AlphaPoint – FinovateEurope 2015 – With more than $350 million in monthly trading volume and 20 digital currency exchanges operating in 15 countries, AlphaPoint is a leading fintech exchange platform provider for digital currencies. The company demoed version two of its digital currency exchange platform at FinovateEurope in 2015.

CoinJar – FinovateEurope 2015 – Australia’s largest and longest-operating bitcoin company, CoinJar demonstrated its platform at FinovateEurope 2015. The Best of Show-winning firm was the first in its market to offer a bitcoin debit card that enabled cardholders to use the cryptocurrency for everyday purchases.

Bitbond – FinovateEurope 2015 – Berlin, Germany’s Bitbond offers a global P2P bitcoin lending platform that enables anyone with an Internet connection to both get loans as well as invest their savings for interest. The company demonstrated its AutoInvest functionality, which facilitates and automates fund allocation in a portfolio, at FinovateEurope 2015.

itBit – FinovateSpring 2015 – New York-based itBit demonstrated its bitcoin trading platform at FinovateSpring in 2015. The company’s technology enables both institutional and retail investors to buy and sell bitcoin. Rebranded as Paxos in the fall of 2016, the company has since highlighted its work in private blockchains and distributed ledger technology.

Blockstack.io – FinovateFall 2015 – Best of Show winning Blockstack.io offers a hosted and licensed enterprise blockchain platform that enables financial services companies and others to build applications on their own private blockchain. The San Francisco, California-based company, founded in 2015, was acquired by Digital Asset Holdings for an undisclosed sum before the end of the year.

ArcBit – FinovateFall 2015 – With a pledge to leverage bitcoin and blockchain technology to bring banking to the underbanked, ArcBit, which made its Finovate debut at FinovateFall in 2015, offers a mobile wallet specifically designed to give bitcoin owners full control over their cryptoholdings.

Coinalytics – FinDEVr San Francisco 2015 – Our developers conference, FinDEVr is one way that many bitcoin and crytocurrency innovators were able to bring their innovations to the public. Coinanalytics, which offers an end-to-end intelligence platform for the bitcoin industry, is an example of the kind of company developing solutions to make bitcoin a better opportunity for payments, financial services, and IoT.

BlockCypher – FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2015 – Another alum of our developer’s conference, BlockCypher offers companies a cloud-optimized, enterprise-grade blockchain platform that enables them to build reliable blockchain apps. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, the company was founded in 2014.

Gem – FinDEVr Silicon Valley 2015 – Founded in 2014 and based in Venice, California, Gem demonstrated its API which provides a comprehensive security solution for bitcoin apps – without taking control over funds. With a few lines of code, Gem enables developers to provide an interface to their bitcoin apps that gives users better funding options.

Ledger – FinovateEurope 2016 – Headquartered in Paris, France and founded in 2015, Ledger designs trusted hardware solutions for bitcoin and blockchain apps. The company’s solutions, including the Nano X and Nano S, provide cryptocurrency owners with a secure, portable way to take and manage their digital assets wherever they are.

Stratumn – FinDEVr New York 2016 – Enterprise blockchain technology company Stratumn provides firms with the infrastructure and tools they need to to build, deploy, and run blockchain. The company presented the high performance, proof-of-existence engine of its development platform at our developer’s conference in 2016. Jerome Lefebvre took over as CEO of the company from co-founder Richard Caetano in the fall of 2019.

Plutus.it – FinovateEurope 2018 – London-based Plutus demonstrated its Tap & Pay and Debit Card solutions that enable consumers to pay with bitcoin or Ethereum at any contactless point of sale. Founded in 2016, the company currently supports more than 26,000 Plutus accounts and credits its users for acquiring more than $100,000 in rewards via its Pluton Rewards program.

Amber Labs – Finovate MiddleEast 2019 – Best of Show winner Amber Labs is a bitcoin exchange, wallet, and micro-investment app in one. Headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, and founded in 2017, Amber Labs offers a mobile first, automated investment platform for retail customers looking to buy and sell bitcoin.

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PensionBee Launches Pension Product for Self-Employed Workers

PensionBee Launches Pension Product for Self-Employed Workers
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

Online pension provider PensionBee is making it easier for the non-traditional workforce to save for their later years. That’s because the U.K.-based company is launching a new product designed for self-employed users.

The product will enable new users to set up a new pension in minutes. The new offering also provides a flexible contributions plan so that savers can adjust their pension contribution amounts as their income fluctuates, with no minimum contribution required.

The self-employed pension product is available to sole traders and directors of companies without an existing workplace or private pension. Users have nine investment options, including the PensionBee’s Fossil Fuel Free Plan which completely excludes fossil fuel producers and persistent violators of the UN Global Compact.

One of PensionBee’s differentiating factors is its fee structure. Instead of charging users a range of fees, the company has a more simplified fee structure that charges just one annual fee. This “all-in” fee ranges from 0.50% to 0.95%, depending on the plan. And, to encourage higher balances, PensionBee offers users 50% off their fee for any portion of their savings that exceeds £100,000.

Prompting the release of the self-employed product is the increase in self-employed workers combined with a decline in consumer savings. According to a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the number of self-employed workers has grown over the past two decades while the proportion saving into a private pension has fallen from 48% in 1998 to 16% in 2018. Another study from Nest found that only 24% of self-employed workers are saving into a pension.

“Without the benefits of auto-enrollment, the self-employed are at a significant disadvantage and need access to simple and flexible products urgently if they are to avoid a shortfall in later life,” said PensionBee CEO Romi Savova. “In the absence of old workplace pensions to provide a head start, we know that the thought of saving from nothing can be daunting for many self-employed consumers, which is why we’ve made it as easy as possible for them to open a pension and put money aside whenever their business allows.”

“The self-employed currently make up 20% of the PensionBee customer base, so we know their needs well and are committed to helping many more self-employed consumers plan for a happy retirement and achieve better financial outcomes.”

Savova founded PensionBee in 2014 along with his co-founder, Jonathan Lister. The company has closed three rounds of funding; the amounts of each round are undisclosed.

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Minna Technologies Raises More than $18 Million in Funding

Minna Technologies Raises More than $18 Million in Funding
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Funding, Minna Technologies

Sweden-based Minna Technologies has secured more than $18 million (€15.5 million) in new funding to help bring its subscription management technology to more banks around the world. The Series B round was led by Element Ventures, and featured participation from MiddleGame Ventures, Nineyards Equity, and Visa. Minna Technologies now has raised more than $27 million (€23 million) in funding.

“Over the past four years, the subscription economy has exploded from Spotify and Netflix to even iPhones and cars,” Minna Technologies co-founder and CEO Joakim Sjöblom explained. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to keep track of the payments and harder for banks to handle inquiries to shut them down. Minna’s tech improves the procedure for banks by simplifying the process, as well as providing an in-demand digital product that consumers are starting to expect from their financial institutions.”

Minna Technologies enables banks to offer their customers a better way to manage what analysts say are an average of 11 monthly subscriptions valued at €333 a month for European consumers. Rather than having to deal with each vendor or merchant separately, users of Minna’s solution can manage subscriptions directly via their banking app. The technology will also notify subscribers when free trial offers are nearing expiration to help users avoid accidental overpayment. Minna said that its technology has helped retail banking customers at partners Swedbank and ING save more than €40 million.

The subscription economy – driven by demand for products and services like online streaming and on-demand shopping – has grown by more than 3.5x since 2012, the company noted. A growing number of companies in the pre-digital economy are also taking advantage of the subscription model. As one example, automaker Volvo introduced a subscription service in the U.K., Care by Volvo, last fall. The new offering includes servicing, road tax, and maintenance as part of its “genuine, flexible alternative” to car ownership.

Element Ventures partner Michael McFadgen praised Minna as a company that was “revolutionizing financial services” for consumers and highlighted the ability of fintech innovation to provide banks with potential additional revenue streams, as well. “This is a clear example of the liberating services Open Banking promised us and we’re excited to be part of this journey with Minna,” McFadgen said.

Founded in 2016, Minna Technologies demonstrated its technology at FinovateEurope 2019 in Berlin, Germany. Last summer, the company announced a partnership with ING Belgium, enabling the bank’s 1.8 million customers to manage their subscription commitments without leaving the bank portal.

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Expensify Tackles Wage Gap with New Initiative

Expensify Tackles Wage Gap with New Initiative
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Diversity in Fintech, Expensify

Pre-accounting platform Expensify commemorated Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a creative way to fight injustice. The company will donate 25 cents for every dollar it pays its white male employees to its volunteer-led campaigns. The company estimates that this initiative – the product of “numerous internal conversations” among Expensify employees – will raise $3 million in 2021.

Dude fee? Bro tax? As Expensify CEO and founder David Barrett explained, the calculation was made based on national gender pay gap data. “As part of our broader commitment to creating a world free of injustice, we’re using external data sources to determine our direct donations so it meaningfully reflects the types of fundamental and generational issues we’re trying to help solve.”

In the company’s announcement, Expensify Director Puneet Lath – a nine-year veteran of the firm- elaborated on the thinking behind the decision. Pointing out that members of some minority groups can earn as low as 75 cents on the dollar compared to white men doing the same work, Lath said this gap has contributed to systemic inequality and “unequal treatment in the workforce.” To this end, he said this specific funding approach “furthers our commitment to unwind systemic injustice throughout society.”

The engine of Expensify’s program is Expensify.org, which was launched last year to help facilitate charitable giving and volunteering. The onset of the COVID-19 crisis caused the organization to focus its efforts on hunger relief efforts, resulting in assistance to 5,000 low-income families by the end of 2020.

A Finovate alum for more than a decade, Expensify also participated in our developer’s conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, the receipt tracking and expense management app has more than 10 million users around the world.

Photo by fauxels from Pexels

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