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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Secure messaging company Striataannounced this week it has been acquired by Doxim, a customer communications management (CCM) software company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Doxim will use Striata’s technology to expand its CCM platform and provide personalized digital interactive experiences in a secure manner. Doxim CEO Mike Rogalski expressed that the global pandemic has accelerated the need for communications technologies. “Especially with the impact of COVID-19, which has meant fewer face-to-face meetings,” noted Rogalski, “organizations need to find scalable ways to orchestrate and distribute multi-channel communications that are both personalized and legally compliant.”
“The joint strength of Striata and Doxim will power a world-class digital CCM platform and expert team for enterprises and small to mid-sized businesses,” said Striata CEO Michael Wright (pictured). “We look forward to working with Doxim to integrate our technology, systems and culture. The value proposition of the combined organization promises to be a formidable force in the market.”
Striata was founded in 1999 and, with a focus on security and compliance, has worked heavily in the financial services industry. The company’s services include message design, generation, security, delivery, and storage across multiple channels.
Striata is headquartered in New York City, with operations in London, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, and Sydney and partners in North and South America, Africa, Europe and Asia Pacific.
Finovate came back strong this morning, with excellent keynotes and a solid round of fintech demos.
Sarika Sangwan, Global Head of Strategy and Marketing- Financial Services at Pinterest kicked things off with her keynote on building consumer trust in the age of doubt. She illustrated that the best way to build trust is with intentionality and purpose. Sangwan encouraged banks to put the customer first and allow that to drive every decision they make.
The next keynote of the morning featured Tom Feher, Banking Industry Executive of U.S. Financial Services at Microsoft, who spoke on coming together to respond, recover, and reimagine during COVID-19. Feher showcased a range of solutions to help firms return to in-person operations in the midst of the pandemic. He pointed out that low code and no code solutions can not only help organizations respond to issues faster, but also reduce costs.
Today’s final keynote speaker was Paul Rohan, Head of Business Strategy- Finance at Google Cloud on how open banking is 21st century branch banking. Rohan’s discussion combined technology, sociology, and history to consider how banks can change their belief systems (as well as their computer systems) to move into a more open approach that embraces third parties.
Following this was the last set of demos:
Authoriti showcased the Authoriti Network that helps create new ways of preventing identity theft, fraud, and misuse of data.
Cirrus Secure demoed its cloud-based collaboration hub that impacts a lender’s bottom-line by creating efficiency in place of document chaos.
KioWare presented its touchless kiosk environment that enables kiosks to be converted to touchless operation without expensive new hardware.
Cinchy showed off its real-time Data Collaboration Platform that helps financial service providers solve data integration, data access, data governance, and solutions-delivery challenges.
Lenderfit demoed how it helps lenders close more commercial loans faster.
Glia showcased its digital customer service platform that connects financial institutions to their customers using chat, voice, video, cobrowsing and AI.
Illuma Labs demoed passive voice authentication for call centers to help banks elevate the user experience, enhance security against fraudsters, and improve operational efficiency.
Envestnet |Yodlee presented its data aggregation and analytics platform that provides innovation and insights for financial service providers.
Microsoft showcased tools to help firms protect their workforce during each phase of the return to the workplace — and beyond.
Horizn demoed how it helps financial institutions dramatically accelerate digital adoption with customers and employees.
Wrapping up today’s show were the Mastercard Priceless Pitches, three-minute pitches from Mastercard’s Start Path participants, including:
Previse showed how it leverages AI to power B2B payments and make B2B commerce more efficient.
Doconomy presented how it helps consumers calculate the carbon footprint of every transaction they make and offset and reduce their carbon footprint.
Enveil showed how it protects data-in-use to enable secure and private data sharing, search, and analytics.
vCita presented how it powers small business by offering them tools to manage their money, time, and clients to grow their business.
Tomorrow we’ll kick off our discussion days with another conversation at our interactive networking session, Meet at the Cafe. Afterwards we’ll feature insightful keynote presentations and breakout panels. Stay tuned!
A pair of recent Finovate alums have made the cut for the Fintech Europe Innovation Program sponsored by Plug and Play. Moxtra, most recently appearing on the Finovate stage in 2017, and Subaio, which made its Finovate debut earlier this year at FinovateEurope in Berlin, will join six other startups in the program’s sixth cohort since it was launched two years ago.
“Even though COVID-19 has brought uncertainty to the market, it has also given way to a wide range of opportunities,” Program Director of Plug and Play’s Fintech Europe program Fernando Zornig said. “Embracing innovation in finance is now more important than ever. We are seeing a lot of changes in Europe and I am confident that these solutions will help our corporate partners adapt to these changes faster.”
Companies participating in the program will engage with Plug and Play’s 13-member, financial institution partner community, which includes Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas, and Raiffeisen Bank International. The startups will have the opportunity to pursue pilot projects as well as investment opportunities. Joining Moxtra and Subaio at the Frankfurt, Germany-based program are:
ABAKA
CARTO
Delio
Envio Systems
SESAMm
Vizolution
Headquartered in Cupertino, California, Moxtra offers a OneStop Customer Portal that gives businesses a “digital branch” through which they can engage and collaborate with customers. Moxtra’s solution provides an all-in-one suite of services including secure chat and video meetings, document collaboration and task management, video conferencing and transactions, and more. This spring, the company was named to Fintech Global’s second annual Wealthech 100 roster.
Subaio provides a white-label, subscription management platform that enables users to get a complete overview of their existing subscriptions. The technology makes it easy for users to cancel subscriptions they no longer want and keep track of any changes in the subscription services they wish to keep. Headquartered in Denmark and founded in 2016, Subaio has a number of live bank integrations of its solution, including a just-announced partnership with ABN Amro.
Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, California, Plug and Play is a worldwide innovation platform that offers accelerator programs, corporate innovation services, and its own in-house venture capital team. More than 30,000 startups have benefitted from Plug and Play’s resources and support, with companies in its ecosystem raising $9+ billion in funding to date.
Since its launch in 2009, Square has always catered to small business owners. The payment services company is best known for offering micro-to-medium sized merchants an easy way to accept payments and today Square is launching two services to make those business’ payrolls even more robust.
Explaining the problem, Square Payroll GM Caroline Hollis said, “The traditional payroll process is slow and rigid, creating cash flow constraints for employees and businesses alike. This is even more pronounced now given the current economic conditions.”
The new features include On-Demand Pay for employees and Instant Payments for employers. On-Demand Pay will allow employers to offer their workers early access to some of the wages they’ve earned, while Instant Payments helps businesses fund payroll faster than the typical time of three-to-four days.
There is a bit of a catch with these services, however. Both offerings hinge on Square’s Cash App, a mobile wallet that effectively serves as a checking account for P2P payments. With On-Demand Pay, employees can transfer up to $200 of their earned wages to Square’s Cash App for free. Transfering the funds to a third party debit card, however, incurs a 1% or $2 fee. As for Instant Payments, employees that elect to be paid via Square’s Cash App receive their pay within minutes, while those paid via direct deposit get paid “as soon as the next business day.”
The new features are not new to the fintech scene. They will, however, help Square compete with new offerings from other third party fintechs and serve as a way to help Square maintain its multi-million user base of sellers.
With welcoming remarks from Finovate VP Greg Palmer, Day Two of FinovateFall Digital got underway on Tuesday with a pair of addresses that looked at ways that fintechs and financial services companies can make the most out of the current health and economic challenges.
In his opening keynote, HSBC Head of Innovation Jeremy Balkin emphasized that understanding how the current environment has changed customer behavior is critical for businesses looking to adapt to both those changing behaviors and the needs they represent. This has been underscored during this quarantine/lockdown/shelter-in-place era. But Balkin is quick to note that these behavioral changes have impacted not only consumers, but workers and employees, also.
“We spend a lot of time thinking about the customer experience. We need to think about the employee experience, as well,” he said.
He also talked about the historical tendency to think of partnerships and “borrowing technology” as an initiative of last resort. Balkin pointed out that successful companies have turned this idea on its head to put collaboration and partnership at the forefront of their efforts to better serve their current clients and engage new potential customers.
Our Mastermind Keynote featured Adam Dell, Head of Product for Marcus by Goldman Sachs. Dell discussed how the adoption of digital tools is accelerating and compared the current moment to other recent instances of rapid technology adoption by the public. He pointed to a “vibrant demand for digital banking services,” and said that the winners will be those that can offer a delightful digital experience, a fair deal for the consumer, and the lowest cost means of delivery.
“Individuals who sit in the value chain and don’t create value really risk being eliminated,” he said.
Dell also discussed the opportunities created by the convergence of banking services and PFM. This comes as Goldman Sachs announces that Marcus will now feature a suite of PFM tools to complement its digital banking functionalities. Marcus Insights, as the new offering has been dubbed, was spearheaded by Dell, founder of PFM innovator Clarity Money which was acquired by Goldman Sachs in 2018.
After our noon break for lunch and networking, we began the day’s round of technology demos.
Q2 demonstrated its partner marketplace and app store that solves the challenge of banks and fintechs working together.
Monit presented its mobile predictive cash flow and financial optimization solution that gives small business owners the personalized insights into and guidance on their finances they need to manage their business successfully.
payever demonstrated its solutions that help small businesses access and take advantage of the same technology that big companies do.
Obsecure showcased its technology that authenticates digital actions to ensure that digital experiences are as safe and simple as in-person interactions.
Mostly AI demonstrated its synthetic data platform that enables companies to take advantage of AI and Big Data while maintaining customer privacy protections.
The second round of demos slated for today– including Glia, Illuma Labs, Envestnet | Yodlee, Microsoft, and Horizn— have been rescheduled for tomorrow due to technical difficulties. Stay tuned for more details on timing.
We would be remiss not to mention that Day Two began with our new interactive, networking session, Meet at the Cafe. Sponsored by Google Cloud, our first edition Tuesday morning featured a spirited, interactive conversation on Klarna’s$650 million fundraising, the fate of challenger banks, and the impact of new customer behaviors in the age of COVID-19.
Meet at the Cafe returns Wednesday morning, with a special guest: David Andrzejek, Head of API Ecosystems with Google Cloud. So meet us at the cafe and join in the conversation!
On the day that Goldman Sachs announced that its digital banking solution Marcus would now feature a suite of PFM tools, FinovateFall Digital attendees were busy listening to the architect of this new feature – Adam Dell, Head of Product at Marcus – making the case for, among other things, the union of digital banking and PFM.
Successful digital financial services offerings in the post-COVID era will have three main features, Dell said. They will have a low cost means of delivery, they will represent a fair deal for the consumer, and they will provide what he called “delightful digital experiences.”
The new PFM solution, known as Marcus Insights, is currently available on iOS and will be made available on Android platforms and on the web soon. Marcus Insights aggregates the user’s financial information in a single dashboard, and offers tools and trackers to provide an easy-to-understand overview of their finances. After linking their checking, savings, loans, and/or investment accounts, users can analyze their spending in pre-set categories such as travel, shopping, and dining, as well as get instant insight into their spending and saving patterns, and their investment performance.
Interestingly, due to a restrictive data sharing agreement, users will not be able to link their Apple Cards to Marcus Insights. This is despite the fact that Apple is a Goldman partner. Also partnering with Goldman and Marcus on this initiative is Finovate alum Plaid, which was acquired by Visa for $5.3 billion at the beginning of the year.
Goldman launched Marcus, which was named after the investment bank’s founder Marcus Goldman, in 2016 and, just this year, unveiled a mobile app for the online bank. As of January, Marcus has $60 billion in customer deposits, and $5 billion in loans. CNBC reported that Marcus plans to add a digital checking account and an investing service in 2021.
As the buy-now, pay-later (BNPL) craze explodes, some fintechs are in just the right place to catch the sparks. Payment services company Klarna is one of these players, and it has just landed $650 million in funding.
Today’s round adds to the company’s $1.4 billion in previously raised funds, bringing its total to just over $2 billion. The investment also boosts Klarna’s valuation to $10.6 billion, ranking the company as the highest-valued private fintech in Europe and the fourth highest worldwide.
The round was led by Silver Lake, GIC (Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund), and accounts managed by BlackRock and HMI Capital. Additional funds came from Merian Chrysalis, TCV, Northzone, and Bonnier, which have acquired shares from existing shareholders.
Klarna will use the funds to invest in product development, fuel global expansion, and build on its growth.
“We are at a true inflection point in both retail and finance,” said Klarna CEO and Co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski. “The shift to online retail is now truly supercharged and there is a very tangible change in the behavior of consumers who are now actively seeking services which offer convenience, flexibility and control in how they pay and an overall superior shopping experience. Klarna’s unique proposition, consumer preference and global retailer network will prove an excellent platform for further growth.”
As consumers seek alternative methods to finance their purchases, Klarna’s BNPL tool that enables users to pay in interest-free installments has gained impressive traction. The company’s shopping app has more than 12 million monthly active users worldwide, with 55,000 daily downloads.
And Klarna’s game is also strong on the merchant side of things, as many retailers have sought to increase online sales during stay-at-home orders. During the first half of 2020, the company added more than 35,000 new retailers to its existing merchant base of more than 200,000 partners including Sephora, The North Face, Timberland, and Ralph Lauren.
As a result of this growth, the company’s volume grew 44% over the first half of this year to more than $22 billion and its revenue increased 36% year-on-year to $466 million over the same period.
Today we’re announcing the winners of the 2020 Finovate Awards, recognizing excellence in fintech across 23 different categories. This is the second year of the Finovate Awards, which aims to highlight strong work done by the companies who are driving fintech innovation forward and the individuals who are bringing new ideas to life.
This year’s Finovate Awards may not come with ballroom gowns, confetti, and cocktails, but that doesn’t make the accomplishments any less compelling. In fact, the opposite is true. To be receive an award in the midst of a global pandemic-turned-economic crisis is often the result of putting the needs of others first.
Judges for the awards include media analysts, board members, bankers, fintech founders, and more. Each were given the difficult task of taking a record number of nominations and distilling them down to just a single winner in each category.
Best Alternative Investment Platform: CNote
Best Back Office / Core-Service Provider: MAXEX
Best Consumer Lending Platform: NF Innova and Raiffeisen Bank Serbia
Best Customer Experience: Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Best Digital Bank: STASH
Best Digital Mortgage Platform: LendingHome
Best Enterprise Payments Solution: PaymentGalaxy by Finzly
Best Financial Mobile App: TMRW by United Overseas Bank
Best Fintech Accelerator / Incubator: The Venture Center’s FIS and ICBA Accelerators
Best Fintech Partnership: PPP.bank (Citizens Bank of Edmond and Teslar Software)
Best ID Management Solution: buguroo
Best Insurtech Solution: Spire by Ernst & Young
Best Mobile Payments Solution: Nordic API Gateway
Best RegTech Solution: Facteus
Best SMB/SME Banking Solution: ANNA Money
Best Use of AI/ML: Socure
Best Wealth Management Solution: SoFi Invest
Excellence in Financial Inclusion: Current
Excellence in Sustainability: PayActiv
Executive of the Year: Renaud Laplanche, Upgrade
Fintech Woman of the Year: Lisa Kimball, Finicity
Innovator of the Year: Elena Ionenko, Turnkey Lender
Top Emerging Tech Company: Breach Clarity
While only one company can win each category, it’s also worth recognizing the quality of all of the finalists who made it to the last stage in the process.
We owe a huge thank you to the panel of judges, followers, and everyone who took the time to submit a nomination. Congratulations to the winners!
In a financial world still dealing with near-zero interest rates – and less – word that Spain-based financial resource platform Finect has partnered with savings-as-a-solution innovator Raisin is great news for Finect’s two million plus users.
“Spanish families have accumulated a record figure of almost €900,000 million in bank deposits, but not always with a meaningful return. In fact, in many cases, they don’t even earn interest,” Finect CEO Antonia Botas explained. He called the partnership with Raisin part of Finect’s “broader objective: to bring the best products and services to Spanish savers, following the launch of our fund platform in July.”
Finect offers a way for consumers to shop for a wide variety of financial services and products. More than 10,000 savers have used the platform to find and request a financial advisor, and 100+ national and international investment firms leverage Finect’s platform to connect with clients and grow their businesses. Courtesy of the partnership with Raisin, Finect users will have access to 60+ deposit products from Raisin’s European partner banks, and give users the ability to earn as much as 1.41% on their savings.
“With the increase in savings volume since the start of COVID-19 pandemic, creating access to better savings options with higher yields is more important than ever,” Raisin Spain Country Manager Miguel Freire said. “Finect and Raisin share a mission to use digital technology to provide people in Spain with not only more information, but also more competitive options.”
German fintech Raisin, which began operations in the United States over the summer, began the year with the news that it has topped the €20 billion in deposits mark. Founded in 2012, Raisin has more than 280,000 customers across Europe, and more than 98 partner banks.
A Finovate alum since making its debut at FinovateFall in 2013, Finect was founded a year before, and is headquartered in Madrid, Spain.
ABN AMRO is updating its Grip app this week by integrating Subaio’s white label subscription management feature for banks.
The integration comes at a time when users are spending more than ever before on subscriptions, especially digital subscriptions such as movie streaming services and cloud storage products. According to the New York Times, consumers spent an average of $640 on digital subscriptions in 2019, up 7% from 2017.
ABN AMRO’s Grip PFM app now leverages Subaio’s subscription management feature that enables users see all of their recurring payments in one place. The tool alerts users of any changes in subscriptions and even helps them cancel subscriptions from within the app. Subaio relies on an algorithm that uses machine learning to detect patterns in frequency, amount, merchant name, and more.
“Since the launch we’ve already seen tens of thousands of Grip users coming in to see their overview and also cancel subscriptions. It’s fantastic to help people get control of their subscriptions,” said Subaio CEO Thomas Laursen.
Today’s partnership with ABN AMRO is Subaio’s seventh bank partnership. Among the company’s other partners are Nordea and challenger bank Lunar. The company has found that the average user has eight different subscriptions, and that the users are saving $253 (€213) every time they use Subaio’s solution to cancel a subscription.
Founded in 2016, Subaio showcased at FinovateEurope 2020. The company has raised $2.4 million and has 20 employees.
“Buy Now Pay Later” may be the e-commerce rage du jour. But if you check in with the team from Inspirave, then you’ll hear about a better way for consumers to spend and save. The New York based company – which we profiled last fall – unveiled its SaveAway platform this week, enabling consumers to benefit from its unique blend of “financial planning with the path-to-purchase.”
“There has never been a better time to see Inspirave’s economically sustainable blueprint, propelled by greater purchasing power, striking such an inimitably strong chord with our growing community of SaveAway users and partners who recognize that what inspires our new-to-market innovations enabling greater financial wellness and social mobility is our steadfast mission to further human potential and prosperity for all,” Inspirave founder and CEO Om Kundu said in a statement.
SaveAway’s unification of micro-saving and social commerce offers consumers a way to save for the things they really value and avoid purchasing these same items with credit and accumulating unnecessary debt in the process. Aided by the insights, advice – and even material support – of friends and family, consumers using the SaveAway platform can leverage the collective wisdom of those who know them best and care about them the most to help them make financial decisions that are as responsible as they are affordable.
Miguel Sanchez and Philip Shearer, co-founders of diversity-focused accelerator MetaBronx, praised both the Inspirave’s innovation and its approach to spending and saving. “What made the SaveAway platform stand out in the top six companies chosen in 2020 derived from the breakthroughs in Inspirave’s patented technology as much as its novel operating model, pointing to the massive impact SaveAway is moving forward to uniquely deliver,” they said.
The company noted in its statement that those who signed up for Early Access to the SaveAway platform are eligible for a variety of bonuses, including referral credits and entry into a sweepstakes for a $1,000 contribution toward the winner’s SaveAway purchase-goal to be paid by the company. More than 12,000 people have signed up for Early Access to date.
Named a a Top Fintech Forward Company to Watch by American Banker and BAI, and A Finovate alum since 2016, Inspirave is headquartered in New York City.
What’s to like about FinovateFall Digital, our all-digital fintech conference starting Monday, September 14th and continuing through Friday, the 18th? A CEO from one of our demoing companies pointed out that one of the special things about this fall’s conference is that because the FinovateFall is all-digital, it enables people all over the world to participate as virtual attendees.
With this in mind, we wanted to use this week’s Finovate Global to highlight those companies from outside the United States that will be demonstrating their latest fintech innovations as part of our annual autumn event. Here’s hoping they bring a few friends from across the border – or from over the sea – to digitally join us!
Cinchy – Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Provides a real-time data collaboration platform to solve data integration, access, governance, and solution-delivery challenges. Finovate Best of Show Winner. Founded in 2014.
DQ Labs – Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Offers a unified suite of modules that enables companies to unlock the value in their data to gain new insights. Founded in 2019.
Horizn – Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Helps banks and financial institutions dramatically increase digital adoption. Finovate Best of Show winner. Founded in 2012.
Mostly AI– Vienna, Wien, Austria. Enables companies to unlock privacy-sensitive data assets while protecting privacy. Founded in 2017.
Payever – Hamburg, Germany. Offers a Commerce Operating System to help entrepreneurs start, run, and grow their businesses. Founded in 2013.
ScientiaConsulting – London, U.K. Leading fintech consulting and development firm in Europe. Founded in 2010.
Join us next week for Finovate’s latest all-digital fintech conference. Visit our registration page today and save your spot at our live and On Demand event.
Digital Currency Comeback?
Back in January Finovate Global took a look at the growing case for national digital currencies. We highlighted initiatives in countries as different as India and Japan, and underscored observations from Christine Lagarde (former head of the IMF and current president of the European Central Bank) in her address, “The Case for New Digital Currency”.
Now Ms. Lagarde is back in the news hinting at a near-term resolution to the question of a digital euro. In a speech this week at the Bundesbank’s conference on digital banking and payments, Lagarde argued that Europe must be wary of falling behind when it comes to the development of digital payment options, and that consideration of a national digital currency needs to be a part of that conversation.
“The Eurosystem has so far not made a decision on whether to introduce a digital euro,” Lagarde said. “But, like many other central banks around the world, we are exploring the benefits, risks, and operation challenges of doing so.” Lagarde added a taskforce on development of a digital euro is expected to release its findings “in the coming weeks.”
Open Banking All Over the World
We recently investigated the prospects for open banking in Australia. This week we share an overview of the state of open banking in Switzerland courtesy of Fintech Zoom’s Jung Min-Seo.
“Europe may moderately declare to be the cradle of open banking,” Min-Seo wrote, “however in contrast to within the E.U. the place members are obliged to implement PSD2, a directive meant to opening up cost transactions to non-banks and promote competitors, Switzerland has no such regulation in place.”
TechWire Asia looks at how Amazon is leveraging its relationship with India to grow its fintech offerings.
Proving that cash is still alive in India, RapiPay, a subsidiary of Capital India Finance, will install 500,000 micro ATMs in the country over the next two years.
Latin America and the Caribbean
Caribbean-based fintech WiPay teams up with Mastercard to expand digital payments in the region.
Austria’s Paysafecard announces expansion into Mexico.
Mexican fintech Ubank, which offers an automated savings solution, plans to expand to the United States.
Asia-Pacific
Revolut goes live in Japan.
Onfidobrings ID verification to migrant worker e-marketplace, MyCash Money, which serves workers in Malaysia and Singapore.
Backbasepartners with Vietnam’s Tien Phong Commercial Joint Stock Bank (TPBank) to speed the institution’s digital transformation.
Sub-Saharan Africa
Nigerian fintechs Opay and PalmPay, along with South African e-payment firm, Yoco, are the only three Africa fintechs to earn spots on CB Insights’ 2020 Fintech Top 250.
Ozow, a digital payments company based in South Africa, launches its new payments platform.
Nigeria’s Sparkle announces plans for digital distribution of insurance solutions.
Central and Eastern Europe
Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis praises Ukraine as the country with the greatest rate of cryptocurrency adoption in a new report.
Hungarian biometric payment startup PeasyPay announces plans to expand to Spain and the U.K.
Balkan Insight reviews the fintech ecosystem in Croatia.
