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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Jon Stein has long been a prominent figure in the U.S. fintech sector. Betterment, the wealthtech company he launched in 2008, has grown to help 500,000 users manage a total of $25 billion in assets.
Not only did Stein build a successful fintech company, he also helped kick off the entire wealthtech subsector within fintech. Today, the New York-based company’s founder announced he is handing over the company — and the legacy– to Sarah Kirshbaum Levy.
The move comes after Stein spent time during quarantine reflecting. He ultimately came to the realization that, as he said, “the best way to achieve our mission might be to invite a successor to lead Betterment in the next phase of growth.”
Kirshbaum Levy comes to Betterment after serving as Chief Operating Officer at Viacom Media Networks, the parent company of brands such as Nickelodeon, BET, and Comedy Central. She started working under Stein as a consultant, building out the company’s 2021 plans. Today, as Kirshbaum Levy takes the reins as CEO, she will not only guide Betterment toward a future of growth but also prepare the company to go public.
Stein will continue to hold a seat on Betterment’s board and will support Kirshbaum Levy by offering help with recruiting, investor relations, telling the company’s story, and upholding the company culture and values.
“Due to good fortune and intense effort in a most challenging year, the company has never been in a stronger position. Each line of business is reaching new heights in 2020. We’re beating targets, well-capitalized, with wind at our backs. It’s a good time to hand over the reins,” Stein concluded.
Subscription management platform provider Zuora is partnering with payments infrastructure player Stripe this week.
Through the partnership, Zuora has integrated Stripe into its subscription offerings to enable its 1,000 clients to enhance their payment capabilities. Zuora customers can now access Stripe’s payment tools from the Zuora platform.
“Winning subscription companies want to use the best technologies to build a competitive advantage,” said Zuora Chief Product Officer Chris Battles. “We’re thrilled to work with Stripe in an ecosystem of new world partners that helps to optimize and automate processes throughout our customers’ journey in the Subscription Economy.”
Some of the advanced capabilities include:
Integrated payment processing capabilities into the Zuora platform, including fraud detection, AI-enhanced payment retries, and payment processing capabilities.
Increased payments flexibility so subscribers can pay when, where, and how they choose across a range of subscription options.
A modern ecosystem that can scale to meet clients’ global growth.
Zuora has more than 1,000 clients, including Box, Ford, Penske Media Corporation, Schneider Electric, Siemens, Xplornet, and Zoom. The company’s platform helps firms manage recurring subscription business models and serves as a hub to automate the entire subscription order-to-revenue process across billing and revenue recognition. Zuora was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in California.
Valued at $36 billion, Stripe helps businesses of all sizes with finance and treasury management functions.
“Stripe’s mission is to grow the GDP of the internet, and this partnership with Zuora extends that goal by giving Zuora users access to the full capabilities of Stripe payments,” said Stripe’s Chief Business Officer Billy Alvarado. “With the internet powering a rapidly growing portion of the global economy, it’s never been more important to provide subscription businesses with the economic infrastructure they need.”
Is open banking key to enabling banks and other financial institutions to keep up with ever-evolving customer needs and expectations? With trend drivers as unpredictable as technological innovation on one hand and a once-in-a-generation pandemic on the other, what strategies and tactics can financial institutions embrace in order to best serve their customers now and in the future?
We caught up with Clayton Weir, co-founder of business banking solution provider FI.SPAN, to answer these questions and more. Based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and founded in 2016, FI.SPAN turns banking services into branded banking experiences that are embedded within the ERP and accounting systems of the bank’s business customers.
A recent report indicated that almost 90% of innovation managers fear that integration challenges themselves are an obstacle to digital transformation. Are they right?
Clayton Weir: Yes, I believe they have a valid argument for considering this an obstacle to digital transformation. Forrester and Avoka published a great study on how many large IT projects at enterprise banking and financial services firms get delayed, overrun, and even more disappointingly fail to deliver all of the business value promised.
When you look at the biggest drivers of a failed software project, a disproportionate amount of blame tends to fall on some failure to properly scope the mission in terms of vision, customer needs, and potential constraints.
In addition to the inability to properly staff the program with the right skill mix, I believe those risks become heightened in a domain area like embedded/ERP banking. A team has to understand the nuances of client ERP systems, bank legacy systems, treasury banking, accounting workflows, banking workflows and deliver a program that can exist and add value within all of those different constraints. Not only will most banks and contracted build partners be unlikely to have some of those perspectives sitting on the bench, it also will be hard to deploy the right mix of people to the initiative concurrently.
Technology has moved too far too fast for the banks to build those capabilities themselves. Buying companies that can bring those services to market is not impossible, but well outside the purview of most commercial banks. The best way to go for B2B banks to manage the impact of rapidly evolving customer expectations is to partner with agile, innovative fintech services that not simply meet expectations, but exceed them.
Why do you believe that open banking is the missing link in helping banks make digital transformations?
Weir: Over the next few years, it’s likely that governments will force financial institutions to become more transparent with their data and share information of the client’s choosing with their peers because of open banking. By having a freer flow of information between these parties, both banks and fintechs could develop new apps and services to better serve the needs of their customers. Open banking will make it easier for customers to access fintech products or even open accounts with other financial institutions, but they’ll transact with others through their main bank’s platforms. Rather than getting frustrated with their bank’s limitations, customers will be grateful for how much easier it is to work with their institution.
What do you see when you look at the prospects for open banking in the U.S.? What will drive it forward?
Weir: Many businesses are feeling neglected by banks, when we look into some of the niches that are cropping up; fintechs can come in and support this happening, starting to find ways to serve small niches across the board.
Open banking is a big part of this conversation, and there is market-based momentum around open banking. Open banking is showing up as a direct response to the market opportunity. Meaning, the demand from consumers to use third party apps is increasing. If your bank doesn’t work with those apps, it’s a massive disadvantage for you. If a customer can’t use a certain app because you don’t offer it, they’re going to find a different bank that can offer them a better experience.
Effectively, there is going to be more and more momentum in the marketplace, so as the European and Australian open banking regimes mature, the scope will go above and and beyond what the U.S. has done. As multinational banks, fintechs and developers start to develop other offerings around open banking infrastructure in those other markets, it’s going to dial up the customer expectations in North America. Even if open banking is slow to adopt in the U.S. and Canada, the best things that come out of open banking will undoubtedly surface North America. Multinational banks are going to bring the best of their open banking infrastructure to their North American banks and use it in competitive and interesting ways.
What is the environment for open banking in Canada – where FI.SPAN is based?
Weir: Canada is lagging somewhat behind some other countries, such as Europe and Australia, where governments have mandated open banking and the sharing of customer information. However, adoption in these locales has been slow, while technical issues have made open banking difficult to implement. At some point, the Canadian government will follow suit and mandate open banking, but the sooner banks come on board – and some may get ahead of legislation and create better user experiences now – the better. Everyone should want to see open banking succeed, as it will make it easier for a bank’s business clients to operate, which then further increases economic innovation and competitiveness.
If Canada’s banks are going to become global financial innovators, they need to be more open-minded when it comes to working with fintechs and embrace key trends which include open banking, authentication and digital identification, payments modernization, and embedding financial services within other applications.
Why does the global health crisis – and its economic fallout – represent a special opportunity to embrace open banking? Has COVID-19 made it harder in some ways to advance open banking?
Weir: Quite the opposite, we see it as having brought about digitization and innovation at a quicker pace than pre-pandemic. I think what has essentially happened was that businesses suddenly needed to eliminate manual and paper-based processes, they looked to their banks for help implementing digital solutions quickly. This has pushed banks to start rethinking their innovation goals, and they’ve started asking what efforts will have an immediate impact on the client experience. The fact that embedded banking has suddenly become ubiquitous means that FI.SPAN is now positioned to bring about a huge shift in how businesses consume banking products.
How does FI.SPAN fit into this effort with regard to open banking? How is your company making a difference?
Weir: We make it easy for banks to extend their service offering to their business clients by embedding commercial banking applications within the organization’s ERP or accounting software. The most innovative banks are partnering with fintechs to deliver better payment services they believe will make their customers happier, their relationships stronger, and drive revenue.
Yesterday we shared news that EVERFI and Sallie Mae were teaming up to promote financial literacy for high school kids in California. Today we share news on another youth finance-related front. gohenry, which specializes in providing financial education for youth and their families, has secured $40 million in financing. The round was led by Edison Partners, and featured participation from Gaia Capital Partners, Citi Ventures, and Muse Capital.
The funding takes the company’s total capital to more than $56 million.
“For too long, kids have been locked out of the digital economy and parents lacked the tools to help their children gain confidence with money and finances,” gohenry CEO Alex Zivoder said. “gohenry was the first to respond to these needs in 2012 when we launched a groundbreaking financial education app and debit card that truly empowered children. In 2020, we’ve achieved three key milestones: becoming profitable which many B2C fintechs seek, raising $40 million during COVID, and partnering with world leading funds. All three will help us fuel our U.S. expansion.”
gohenry specializes in helping kids aged six to eighteen develop sound money and financial habits. Launched in the U.K. as a financial literacy app and debit card in 2012, the company has grown its offerings to include its Teen and Eco cards – both of which feature built-in parental controls. The company’s solutions enable youth to learn how to manage allowances and other earnings and give parents the opportunity to guide their children as they learn the basics of digital finance. The company noted that young customers on its platform earned “nearly $150 million in allowances” and “contributed more than $140 million back into the global economy.”
As part of the agreement, Edison Partners managing director Chris Sugden will join gohenry’s board of directors.
“gohenry is catering to millions of parents who are looking to raise smart, financially literate children but are currently underserved by existing solutions,” Sugden said. “We’re thrilled to partner with Alex and the gohenry management team on this next milestone in their growth journey and look forward to realizing their ambitions to improve the financial fitness of kids across the globe.”
The new curriculum, Sallie Mae’s Knowledge for College program, will be made available to high school juniors and seniors in California either in a classroom or virtually. The program is focused on helping provide students – and their families – with the information they need to know in order to finance their higher education goals. The partnership between EVERFI and Sallie Mae comes as research indicates that eight in ten families find affording college “challenging,” less than half of families have a plan to pay for college, and just over half (51%) of students have researched financial aid opportunities.
The two companies also noted that California is unique in that it does not require high school students to take coursework in personal finance before graduating.
“Students and families continue to value higher education, but there’s still a certain level of anxiety and angst about how to pay for it,” Ray Martinez, co-founder and president of EVERFI, said. “(This) is why it is crucial that we provide these students with necessary tools to become confident in their ability to make smart financial decisions well into adulthood. Ensuring students and their families fully understand not only the process by which to apply for student financial aid, but also the responsibilities it carries is of the utmost importance and will help set them up for financial success.”
Knowledge for College includes five interactive modules to help students develop strategies for financing their post-secondary education and, beyond that, building good financial habits for life. Saving and budgeting are among the topics included in the curriculum, as are more advanced topics such as student loans and consumer financing.
“Financial literacy provides students with a strong foundation of knowledge and confidence in making informed decisions about the future,” Sallie Mae SVP Jen O’Donald said. “That future includes planning and paying for higher education, which is one of the first major financial decisions for many students and families. We want families to make these decisions with eyes wide open and that means providing critical education and information early in the process through programs like Knowledge for College.”
Washington, D.C.-based EVERFI made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring. Founded in 2008, the company has been busy making friends this fall: teaming up with Athletes First this month and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) last month to help develop educational programs to boost African American history and fight anti-semitism, respectively. On the fintech front, EVERFI announced in November that it was working with Zelle to launch a free digital financial literacy course for high schools, and, in October, partnered with Citizens Financial Group to enhance the company’s existing College Bound Citizens education outreach initiative with a “robust digital component.”
We featured EVERFI in our look at the importance of financial literacy earlier this year. The company has raised more than $250 million in funding from investors including Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt, and the Rise Fund, among others.
Some might use the term “dumpster fire” to describe 2020. And while it certainly has been a difficult year full of change, loss, separation, and frustration, there have been some silver linings.
One of those bright spots is the acceleration of digital transformation that has taken place across the tech industry. The trends we predicted last December seem like small goals compared to what many organizations were able to accomplish this year.
We’re now faced with another year of uncertainty, not knowing what 2021 will bring. And while it is probably more prudent to make industry predictions in three-month increments, here’s a broader view that assesses some of the larger trends we expect to see take shape over the next 12 months.
Embedded Banking
Embedded banking, and more specifically embedded payments, began taking off this year. To be clear, embedded payments has been around for awhile now. The concept began as a way for customers to pay for a purchase without having to leave the merchant’s site or app.
However, companies are beginning to perfect the customer experience to such an extent that the customer doesn’t experience friction related to the payment. In these cases the payment process is so deeply integrated into an app that the customer doesn’t have to put extra effort into making the payment.
The classic example of embedded payments is Uber. A customer takes a cab ride and arrives at their destination without having to fumble around with their payment card. With Uber, when a customer arrives at their destination, they know that they have paid for the ride but they don’t have to make any extra effort to finalize it or even need to think about it at all.
When software providers can achieve an experience where the customer doesn’t have to think about the payment (but, of course, makes the payment anyway), they will not only have created a better customer experience but also will be able to close more sales.
Open banking in the U.S.
Open banking has already taken off in Europe and is making progress in Australia and Canada, as well. The U.S., however, has been slower to enact regulation.
Helping to drive progress toward an open banking future in 2021 and beyond, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) that requests information from the public on how consumers’ access to their financial records should be regulated.
Essentially, the ANPR serves as a first step in creating formal regulation in the U.S. around open banking. This– along with other factors such as an increase in digital use among consumers, a general recognition that screen-scraping techniques are harmful, and an increase in third party fintech apps– have primed the pump for open banking to take shape next year.
Automation
We’ve reached a point with AI where Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can help businesses effectively scale their operations. On the business side, we can expect to see increased automation in lending decisioning, communication and workflow tools, customer service, billing, invoicing, accounting, and investing. In fact, almost any business operation that lacks the ability to process information fast enough is a good candidate for automation.
End consumers can expect to see more benefits from automation, as well. More and more fintechs are working to optimize savings and investment opportunities for their clients. Take, for example, Wealthfront’s self-driving money concept. The roboadvisor wants to make money management effortless for customers by optimizing the use of each of their paychecks to pay bills, top up their emergency fund, and efficiently allocate the remainder into investments.
Banking-as-a-Service
This trend seems a bit meta, as many of the clients for banking-as-a-service tools are they themselves banks. It may prove difficult to explain to a fintech outsider why a bank would want to launch a challenger bank (the answer: to compete with banks!).
Despite this, however, banking-as-a-service sits at the core of fintech. Banks and fintechs focus on their core competency and integrate solutions from third parties into their own.
There are two major drivers that are transforming this historically vanilla concept into one of next year’s hottest fintech trends. The first is the push toward open banking. As explained above, there is more data being created in the digital realm than ever and, because of this, consumers want to share their data across platforms. This interoperability is altering customer demand and incentivizing fintechs to integrate additional functionality into their existing services.
The second driver is the sudden increase in the number of challenger banks. Late last year and into 2020, we have seen not only a record number of challenger banks launch, but also a record amount of VC funding allocated to challenger banks. While most consumers are maintaining their relationships with their traditional bank, they are also opening accounts at challenger banks such as Chime and N26.
These digital-first banks often have attractive features such as credit building tools, early paydays, and fee-free overdrafts. To compete, some banks are launching challenger banks of their own. Enterprise technology company Moven and digital banking services provider Q2 recently partnered to create a “bank-in-a-box” concept that aims to help banks improve their digital offerings and retain their digitally savvy customers.
Honorable Mention
Aside from this list, there are two items that deserve honorable mention. The first is buy now, pay later technology. The trend is currently on fire but will likely fizzle out after consolidation takes place. The second trend, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), is on the opposite side of the spectrum. As China initiates the launch of its country’s own CBDC there has been a lot of hype about the concept. However, we are likely still three to five years out from the U.S. making any significant progress toward a CBDC so all talk about the subject will be just that– talk.
It’s been a grand week for Finland’s ReceiptHero. The company announced a few days ago that it was teaming up with SEB Kort to have its digital receipt functionality integrated into SEB Kort’s corporate card, Eurocard. Then, we learned that ReceiptHero had inked a deal with fellow Finovate alum ETRONIKA that will enable the launch of the first e-receipt solution in the Baltic region. The new offering will allow ETRONIKA’s business customers to use their KASU retail network management system and ReceiptHero’s technology to issue digital receipts to their customers.
“ETRONIKA has built a truly modern retail chain management and POS product and we are thrilled to be partnering on a wider partnership that allows us the initial steps of building out the Baltic ecosystem.” ReceiptHero CEO Joel Ojala said.
Today comes more news from the Finland-based fintech. Courtesy of an investment from VC Lifeline Ventures, Superhero Capital, and Vidici Ventures of Sweden, ReceiptHero has picked up $2.43 million (€2 million) in seed funding.
“We’re making some real strides now with merchants and potential bank partners,” Ojala said. “We’ve hit an inflection point where banks understand the potential of digital receipts and value for their customers. For merchants they feel safe with ReceiptHero protecting their customer data and payment information.”
Growing interest in ReceiptHero’s technology, which transmits digital receipts from merchants directly to customer banking or account apps, comes as Finland’s government has decreed that digital receipts will be mandatory by 2025. Finland launched a digital receipt pilot project in 2019 that saw more than 50,000 state workers shopping exclusively with merchants using ReceiptHero’s platform.
ReceiptHero made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateEurope in Berlin. Headquartered in Helsinki, the company is also partnered with Nordea, integrating its technology with the bank’s Nordea Wallet offering at the beginning of last year. Other recent ReceiptHero partners include SKJ Systems, Diebold Nixdorf, and global IT system integrator CGI.
One of the more interesting questions during a recent FinovateWest Digital panel on challenger banks asked: how important are partnerships to these digital newcomers? This week, one answer to that question came in the form of an announcement from Australia’s self-described “smartbank” – 86 400 – that it was teaming up with one of the global leaders in data aggregation and insights: Envestnet | Yodlee.
“The average Australians’ financial world can be very complex, with numerous accounts for numerous products across different financial institutions,” 86 400 CIO Brian Parker explained. “By partnering with Envestnet | Yodlee, we’ve given our customers the ability to see all their accounts in one place, delivering a better view of their financial lives and helping them take control of their money.”
Founded in 2017 and backed by Cuscal, Australia’s largest independent payments company, 86 400 offers no fee banking; card, mobile, and smartwatch-based payments; and competitive interest rates for both savers and borrowers. Via mobile app, 86 400 customers can easily monitor and manage their finances, functionality that will be significantly enhanced via the smartbank’s new relationship with Envestnet | Yodlee.
“Consumers don’t have to wait for Open Banking to access and use their own data,” Envestnet | Yodlee ANZ Country Manager Tim Poskitt said. “Envestnet | Yodlee’s data aggregation enables consumers to link their financial accounts with tools and products that deliver better financial outcomes. That’s what 86 400’s products provide.”
86 400, which takes its name from the total number of seconds in a 24 hour day, has forged partnerships in recent months with mortgage brokers like Mortgage Choice and Connective. Headquartered in Sydney, New South Wales, 86 400 wonBest in Class at Australia’s International Good Design Awards. Robert Bell is CEO.
Maybe it is true, as fintech observer and wit Ron Shevlin suggested on Twitter recently, that the credit card issuers have to be scratching their heads a bit with the sudden popularity of the Buy Now Pay Later ecommerce craze-turned-trend. But as Homer Simpson famously put it, “we’re not succumbing to mass hysteria. We’re just jumping on the bandwagon.”
The latest news from the BNPL bandwagon features U.S. buy now pay later company Affirm, which announced that it would acquire Canadian BNPL outfit PayBright for $264 million (C$340 million).
“We built PayBright with the mission of making the everyday commerce experience simply better for Canadians,” company President and CEO Wayne Pommen said. “Partnering with Affirm gives us the opportunity to deliver on that promise on a much larger scale.” Pommen added that he was “delighted” at the opportunity to take “Buy Now Pay Later to the next level in Canada.”
Just where is that next level? PayBright currently has more than 7,000 retailer partners around the world, including companies like Samsung, Wayfair, and Oakley. And competition in the Canadian BNPL space has intensified of late; Australian BNPL rival Afterpay announced its expansion to the country in August.
Here is our look at fintech around the world.
Latin America and the Caribbean
BNamericas interviews Ruben Galindo, CEO of Mexican fintech CapitalTech on how the company has managed to serve its customers during the pandemic.
A partnership between FacePhi and Peruvian fintech TuSueldoYa will help businesses better manage cash advances during the COVID-19 crisis.
IBS Intelligence highlights four Mexican fintechs that are “transforming the financial sector”: Credijusto, Konfio, Clip, and Albo.
Asia-Pacific
Lightnet, a Singapore-based company that leverages blockchain technology to power its remittance offering, announces partnership with Siam Commercial Bank.
P2P lending marketplace Rai Capital goes live in Cambodia.
The Philippine Central Bank recognizes digital banks as a new bank category as part of a new regulatory framework.
Sub-Saharan Africa
A rare look at the evolving fintech ecocsystem in Cameroon.
Telkom, a telecommunications company based in South Africa, goes live with its digital wallet that enables WhatsApp based P2P mobile payments.
Nigerian payment infrastructure solution provider Airopay introduces a new digital payment app.
Central and Eastern Europe
Paysera expands to Albania, opening offices in the capital city of Tirana.
Polish fintech ZEN announces strategic partnership with Mastercard; goes live in 32 European markets.
U.K.-based cashless payment solution provider DiPocket chooses Lithuania for its office in the CEE region.
Middle East and Northern Africa
Emirates NBD introduces next-generation global corporate banking platform businessONLINE.
New report highlights Riyadh and Bahrain among “top fintech ecosystems to watch.”
Kuwait-based banking technology service provider VeriTech partners with Norway’s Zwipe to meet growing demand for contactless payments in the Middle East.
Central and Southern Asia
India-based cryptocurrency investment platform CoinSwitch Kuber announces plans for early December launch.
Fintech Futures takes a look at Indian challenger bank Finwego, which specializes in lending in the private school education space.
Swedish biometric company Fingerprint Cards teams up with Indian smartcard manufacturer M-Tech Innovations to launch contactless cards in India.
PhonePe is selling a $700 million stake in its company to existing investors, including Walmart, which led the financing round. The digital wallet and online payments company will use the funding to distance itself from Flipkart, which Walmart purchased in 2018. As part of the deal, Flipkart’s ownership of PhonePe will drop from 100% to 87%, according to TechCrunch.
India-based PhonePe anticipates that the $700 million in capital– along with independence from parent company Flipkart, which operates an ecommerce division– will help boost its growth in the ever-growing digital payments arena.
Further cementing PhonePe’s independence, the company has appointed its own board of directors, including PhonePe Founder and CEO Sameer Nigam and former Flipkart executive Binny Bansal.
“We are really excited to have access to dedicated long-term capital to further our ambitions in the financial services distribution sector as well as creating large innovative growth platforms for India’s micro, small, and medium enterprises,” said Nigam.
Founded in 2015, PhonePe is estimated to be worth around $5.5 billion. The company anticipates it will be profitable by 2022 and plans to go public in 2023. PhonePe currently has 100 million active users and recorded almost one billion transactions on its platform in October.
With 2021 right around the corner, we’re taking one last look at a year we will remember for a long time.
The Finovate Fintech Fulltime Review kicks off next week with a free, all-digital, live and on-demand showcase of webinars, white papers, eMagazines and more – all designed to make sense out of a year that was in many ways both tragic and transformative. The event begins Monday, December 7 and runs through Friday, December 11.
Among the features of next week’s event worth highlighting is our interactive conversation: Don’t Let Your Contact Center Be the Black Sheep of Your Bank’s Innovation. This live webinar with Mike Straham, VP of Contact Center Solutions with Lifesize, will explain the role of the bank contact center in the overall customer experience and why it is critical for banks to innovate in this space.
A customer experience specialist, Straham has more than 20 years of experience identifying and implementing advanced software technologies to reduce costs, increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and create new revenue streams. He joined Lifesize earlier this year after tenures at Talkdesk, Genesys, and Interactive Intelligence.
Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Lifesize specializes in providing video conferencing and collaboration solutions. In October, the company announced a strategic partnership with Omilia, a conversational AI solution provider. Over the summer, Lifesize acquired U.K.- and Silicon Valley, California-based digital collaboration solutions company Kaptivo.
Also featured next week during our Finovate Fintech Fulltime Review is our conversation with Quadient: Digital Overload: What Do Customers Want Now Besides Emergency Zoom Installations and Contactless Payments?
Led by Quadient’s Andrew Stevens, Principal for Banking and Financial Services, and moderated by Celent Senior Banking Analyst Craig Focardi, this interactive webinar will discuss how to maintain a true focus on the customer experience in the middle of rapid technological change and disruption.
Stevens is a customer experience and communications experts who has worked with and executed transformation programs for institutions across the world. His experience in both technology and banking/finance gives him unique insights into the challenges that financial institutions face today in meeting the needs of ever-more-demanding customers.
Quadient is an international customer experience solution provider specializing in customer experience management, business process automation, mail-related solutions, and parcel locker solutions. Headquartered in Bagneux, France, Quadient includes Societe Generale, Humana, FedEx Express, and Ping An Bank among its customers.
To learn about all we have in store for next week’s Finovate Fintech Fulltime Review, check out our event hub for more information.
Lloyds Banking Group is making instant, cross-border payments possible, thanks to a partnership with global secure financial messaging services provider SWIFT.
The U.K.-based bank announced it is the first bank to go live with SWIFT’s gpi Instant Connection, a new service that helps consumers and businesses send money in seconds across the globe.
gpi, which stands for Global Payments Initiative, was launched in 2017 to facilitate international payments. Since then, SWIFT has amassed more than 4,000 financial institution clients who collectively use gpi to send more than $300 billion each day in more than 150 currencies.
“At Lloyds Bank we strive to continually evolve and create innovative solutions for our clients,” said Ed Thurman, Managing Director and Head of Global Transaction Banking at Lloyds Banking Group. “The gpi Instant service is set to be a game changer in cross-border payments and we are very excited to be the first bank globally to offer the service here into the U.K.”
The new service leverages SWIFT gpi, SWIFT’s high-speed cross-border rails, and connects with a country’s own real-time infrastructure. In Lloyds’ case, SWIFT gpi is connecting with the U.K.’s Faster Payments, the region’s own real-time payments initiative.
“We developed gpi Instant with our community through responsible innovation and equal emphasis on four core needs — speed, security, transparency and compliance,” said David Watson, Chief Strategy Officer at SWIFT. “We look forward to continuing our work with market infrastructures and financial institutions to bring the benefits of seamless cross-border payments to customers across the globe.”
The launch with Lloyds comes after SWIFT tested out the service earlier this year in a pilot with Lloyds, Barclays, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, DBS, Wells Fargo, and BBVA. The real-time payments capabilities are part of SWIFT’s new strategy to retool cross-border infrastructure to facilitate instant and frictionless transactions.
With more than $9 billion in assets, VyStar Credit Union is the latest community-based financial institution to partner with open finance money experience innovator MX. VyStar, one of the 20 largest credit unions in the U.S., will leverage MX’s data connectivity APIs, account aggregation, and data enhancement tools to enhance the online experience for its more than 735,000 members in Georgia and northeastern Florida.
“Our strategy is to harness innovation and strategic fintech relationships that provide the best experiences that will improve our members’ financial well-being, and this partnership with an innovative fintech like MX is a big step in furthering that strategy,” Joseph R. Colca, SVP of Digital Experience at VyStar Credit Union, said. “We’ve been impressed not only with MX’s world-class data enhancement tools, but also with the alignment of our missions to empower financial strength through member advocacy.”
The partnership will enable members of VyStar Credit Union to aggregate and view accounts from all of their financial institutions into a single interface. MX’s technology collects, cleanses, and enriches transaction data, providing insights that help users more accurately plan their financial futures, as well as take smarter financial actions in the present. VyStar believes that embracing the technology will enable the Jacksonville, Florida-based credit union to gain wallet share among its customers by removing any need to log in to other apps or websites.
“With MX, VyStar is giving its customers greater clarity into their finances, which is exactly the kind of innovation, partnership, and money experience that MX loves to enable through our powerful data platform,” Chief Customer Officer for MX Nate Gardner said.
A multiple time Finovate Best of Show winner, MX most recently demonstrated its technology last year at FinovateFall. A leading data platform for banks, credit unions, fintechs, and other financial services providers, MX offers solutions to quickly and accurately collect, enhance, analyze, and present financial data. The company enables financial institutions to better understand and serve their customers, and helps them empower their customers to make better, more informed financial decisions.
Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Lehi, Utah, MX has made headlines in recent months via its partnerships with companies like Borrowell, a leading credit education firm based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Advicent, a SaaS technology solution provider for financial advisors and planners headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Central Pacific Bank , a full-service financial institution based in Honolulu, Hawaii. Named to the 2020 CB Insights Fintech 250 and highlighted as one of the fastest growing companies in Utah, MX unveiled its open finance platform, MX Open, in September. Ryan Caldwell is co-founder and CEO.
