Email

Who Will Be Left Holding the Bill for BNPL?

Who Will Be Left Holding the Bill for BNPL?
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Thought Leadership

You know that buy now, pay later (BNPL) has jumped the shark when even Cosmo is writing about it. After all, BNPL is basically millennials’ way of reverse engineering the layaway programs their parents grew up on.

Not only have we recently witnessed new fintechs launch their buy now, pay later technology, we’re seeing a large increase in incumbent players expand their existing services to include BNPL offerings, as well. Just yesterday, Fiserv announced its BNPL payment option in partnership with QuadPay, and today Standard Chartered partnered with Amazon to offer installment payment plans for customers in the UAE.

While each of the now dozens of BNPL schemes operate a bit differently, most allow the consumer to split up a purchase into multiple installments and repay over a set period of time without incurring interest. As with everything that seems too good to be true, however, negative externalities exist. Here’s a breakdown of the hidden (and not-so-hidden) costs:

The BNPL company

If a consumer makes a purchase and fails to pay one or more of the installments, the BNPL company is generally the one who feels the loss. To mitigate their losses, however, companies generally won’t allow customers to make repeat purchases if they default on a repayment. Not only this, most charge late fees and high interest (some charge up to 30%) to reclaim what they can.

The consumer

The end consumer is always responsible for knowing the repayment arrangement. However, mistakes happen and if the buyer is unable (or forgets) to pay one of the installments, they face multiple costly consequences. As mentioned above, the consumer in default generally faces a late fee. Klarna, for example, charges $35 per month for missed payments. Additionally, while most BNPL offerings are interest-free, some charge high interest on missed payments.

Merchants

Merchants have a pretty good end of the deal when it comes to BNPL. Many offerings allow them to receive the full amount of the buyer’s purchase up-front, and they are not on the hook if the buyer defaults. Some, such as Splitit, allow the merchant to choose a lower fee if they receive the payment as the consumer repays their monthly installments.

The pricing model for merchants vary. Among some of the fees that BNPL companies advertise are: up to 6% plus $0.30 per transaction, 1.5% plus $1.50 per transaction, or 3% plus $1 per transaction.

Banks

While the banks typically aren’t a party to BNPL transactions, these new payment schemes are still costing them. How? Many shoppers are using BNPL to circumvent credit cards, which charge compounding interest each month. For users that are in the habit of financing large purchases, it makes more sense to pay for the purchase over the course of four months, interest-free, than to incur credit card debt by only paying the minimum balance.

Photo by Marika Sartori on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

CheckAlt Acquires U.S. Dataworks

CheckAlt Acquires U.S. Dataworks
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CheckAlt, Mergers & Acquisitions

Independent lockbox and electronic payments provider CheckAlt has acquired software and engineering company U.S. Dataworks from The Bankers Bank of Oklahoma. Terms of the deal were not immediately available.

CheckAlt CEO and co-chairman Shai Stern put the purchase in the context of upcoming challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2020 election. “Recognizing that the U.S. Postal Service is going to be overwhelmed and distracted with mail-in voting and other impediments to normal delivery, we must enable additional solutions for our clients to capture payments on-site, remotely, or through any one of our 13 lockbox processing centers around the country,” Stern said.

“Moreover, between the hundreds of financial institutions that both CheckAlt and U.S. Dataworks serve directly, we now have further reach to offer our full suite of payment solutions which include not only paper processing but as well our Catch! product and card processing services.”

With more than 300 financial institution partners, CheckAlt offers financial institutions and commercial clients a range of lockbox and payment processing solutions. These include a full set of check imaging products that provide consolidated item processing across all channels and points of capture: mobile, ATM, and in-branch. The company also offers standard payment processing solutions and services such as credit card processing, integrated receivables, and merchant RDC.

The U.S. Dataworks acquisition marks CheckAlt’s third in six years. The company bought ERAS, a security systems provider, in 2014, and acquired financial services provider Klik Technologies, two years later. CheckAlt’s acquisition announcement comes at the end of a busy summer for the Los Angeles, California-based company. CheckAlt announced an expansion of its partnership with Pawtucket Credit Union ($2 billion in assets) in June, teamed up with Five Star Bank of California ($2 billion in assets) in July, and collaborated with NXTsoft’s OmniConnect to enhance its ability to integrate with credit unions, core providers, and banks.

Founded in 2004, CheckAlt made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall. The company demonstrated its LoanPay solution, which enables financial institutions to accept a wide variety of loan payments – from auto and business to mortgage and personal – from their customers. The solution enables customers to use debit, credit, and checking accounts to make both one-time and recurring payments in person, via mobile, or online.

Photo by Ylanite Koppens from Pexels

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Credit Suisse Launches Challenger Bank Competitor

Credit Suisse Launches Challenger Bank Competitor
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news

Challenger banks have been slowly making their way into the mainstream banking sector. By offering competitive rates, unique services, and digital-first user experiences, this new breed of banks has disrupted the traditional banking scene, causing some incumbents to rethink their approach.

This certainly seems to be the case with Credit Suisse, a 164-year-old bank. The Switzerland-based firm is steeling itself against challengers by launching its own digital bank, CSX. The new offering aims to be a hybrid approach between challengers and incumbents, and “combines the flexibility and cost effectiveness” of a digital bank with “the comprehensive range of services and expertise” of a traditional bank.

“CSX is intended for all private clients in Switzerland who want to complete their banking business swiftly and easily and who value digital, professional financial advice,” said Anke Bridge Haux, Head of Digital Banking at Credit Suisse. “Of course, we are still available to serve our clients in person. CSX clients can decide for themselves how they want to interact with us, depending on their individual needs.”

In order to serve clients from a range of demographics, Credit Suisse’s new digital bank will be divided into two offerings, CSX and CSX Young. Both take a mobile-first approach, from onboarding to a virtual debit card. Credit Suisse will launch the two accounts at the end of next month. After launching, the app will add services including investments, pensions, and mortgages.

In conjunction with today’s digital banking announcement, Credit Suisse also unveiled plans for a new concept branch that focuses on personalized advice. The bank is piloting the new concept at a new branch in Zurich and is building out the idea with a Digital Bar that offers interactive, personalized advice via video conferencing. Branch locations will also include co-working spaces, multimedia group rooms, and an event zone that can be booked by third parties.

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Four Digital Bonuses at FinovateFall

Four Digital Bonuses at FinovateFall
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2020

Everyone knows that just because something is digital doesn’t mean it can’t be interactive. Many times, in fact, the opposite is true, and that’s the case with this year’s FinovateFall Digital event.

Not only will the demos and discussion content be on-point, we’ll have lots of focused networking opportunities throughout the five-day event to enable you to make valuable connections Finovate is known for.

But the interactivity at FinovateFall extends far beyond networking. Here are five elements we’ve added to the digital show to make it even more “extra.”

Scavenger hunt

Attendees will earn points by watching content, connecting with attendees, exploring the Central Park map, and finding buried easter eggs. Be sure to attend the right sessions and accomplish all the activities needed to complete the hunt.

Donations

We’ve teamed up with No Kid Hungry as our charity partner for FinovateFall. Because of coronavirus, one in four children face hunger this year in the United States alone. Additionally, with physical school closures, the approximately 30 million children on free or reduced-fee school lunches will struggle to find a warm meal every day.

If 200 attendees donate just $25, we’ll meet our $5,000 goal for FinovateFall and No Kid Hungry.

Finshape

Public health officials say that exercise — while undoubtedly crucial under normal circumstances — is essential to your physical health and mental well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. So as part of the event next week, we want you to take the time to focus on your health and fitness.

We’ve built in hour-long lunches and ended content by 4pm each day to make sure you still have time for your healthy habits. Track your total health and fitness minutes per day for the chance to win a raffle prize. Plus, exercising will also earn you points for the scavenger hunt.

On Demand content

While immersive, thought provoking and insightful, let’s not forget about the lighter side of events, too. The on demand exclusive content we’ve put together for the event explores the fun side of demoers, speakers, and attendees. Hear everything from their thoughts on industry trends to their favorite Halloween costume. The quick videos are not only informative, but also entertaining.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Who’s Smiling Now? Ohpen Acquires Mortgagetech Davinci

Who’s Smiling Now? Ohpen Acquires Mortgagetech Davinci
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Alumni profile, Mergers & Acquisitions, Ohpen

One of my favorite sayings popularized by the current Democratic Party candidate for president is “don’t tell me your values. Show me your budget.” The implication is that, at the end of the day, talk is cheap. Show me how you actually spend your money, and I’ll learn all I need to know about what matters to you and what does not.

By that metric, the news that Dutch fintech and Finovate alum Ohpen has acquired Saas-based, crossborder mortgagetech Davinci tells us quite a bit about what what the Amsterdam-based cloud core banking engine maker thinks about the importance of expanding beyond its competencies in savings, investments, loans, and current account products.

“We are a growing company with huge ambitions,” Ohpen CEO Matthijs Aler said. “Together, we intend to lead the charge in directly challenging incumbent providers with outdated technology. Our mission is – and always has been – to set financial institutions free from legacy software. Now we can help a broader range of financial institutions deliver tangible change to meet the needs of tomorrow’s customers.”

Ohpen put the acquisition announcement in the context of its global growth strategy. This includes scaling operations in the Netherlands – where the company is a market leader – the United Kingdom, and Belgium initially, as well as expansion to other areas. Ohpen also plans to scale up its development centers in Spain and Slovakia.

The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, but the combined entity will have 350 employees and $35 million in revenue. Davinci is Ohpen’s second acquisition. The company purchased core banking system implementation consultancy FYNN Advice in the fall of 2017.

Davinci leverages machine learning and AI to enhance and accelerate digital onboarding and acceptance during the mortgage lending process. Delivering cost savings of as much as 80%, the company’s signature solution is Close, a cloud-native platform for mortgage loan origination and servicing.

Calling the acquisition, “the natural next step” for both companies, Davinci Director Alwin van Dijk said, “We are the only two players with a real focus on back and middle office innovation for new and existing propositions.” van Dijk added that the ability to offer a broader range of products will be a “market game changer.”

With $47 million (€40 million) in funding from investors including NPM Capital and Amerborgh, Ohpen began the year teaming up with pensions administrator TKP Pensioen. The partnership with the Groningen, Netherlands-based digital pension platform enabled Ohpen to enter the pension market for the first time. Aler pointed out that the integration would enable the “originally conservative industry” of pension management to have a “fully digital and futureproof pension solution at its disposal.” This spring, Ohpen partnered with another pension management firm, Ortec Finance, integrating the company’s forecasting engine with the Ohpen platform.

Photo by Kaboompics .com from Pexels

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

The People’s Champion: How Wealth Management Firms Can Win Client Trust

The People’s Champion: How Wealth Management Firms Can Win Client Trust
By Charlie Burgess Posted on
Categories: Guest Post, Sponsored

Ahead of FinovateFall Digital next week, we hear from Chad Hamblin, Global Industry Director of Financial Services at Microsoft, one of Finovate’s Gold Sponsors. Hamblin explores why success will come down to understanding and empathizing with your client. Dig a little deeper into this topic with Microsoft’s eBook on the topic: Reimagine the client experience in wealth management.

COVID-19 has put a strain on everyone. We’ve all navigated social isolation, uncertain investment projections, and remote work environments. Regardless of the experience, this time away has left a haze over individuals and organizations alike. We’re not just unsure what comes next, we’re questioning the very processes we’ve accepted to this point.

Investors are feeling a new tension that makes small pain points all the more obvious. Voice automation, fixed fees, commissions — what clients once accepted as the cost of doing business are suddenly under intense scrutiny. Clients aren’t obligated to trust a major firm with their financial future, and now they’re acting on the opportunity to move their money elsewhere.

So how can wealth management firms adapt their strategies (and identities) to regain that trust? It all starts with understanding the client.

A holistic experience

Over the years, many wealth firms operated under a one-size-fits-most model — if the client fell into a specific demographic, then the firm provided a specific portfolio. Empowered by the Digital Age and amplified by this pandemic, a growing number of modern clients are looking for a wealth management partner—someone willing to listen to their ambitions, dreams, and goals and recommend actions catered to their unique circumstances. These clients want to feel identified, seen, and valued; they want to feel like more than an account number. Organizations can deliver on that expectation by creating a holistic client experience — a strategic client approach that uses technology and relationship-building to create a more inclusive perspective on the client’s needs, interests, and ambitions.

Delivering a holistic client experience comes to life in three ways: portfolios, services, and communications.

  1. Holistic portfolios understand the client’s dreams, goals, and life events and work to build the right mix of investments to meet that individual’s financial plan, risk preference, and goals. By moving away from cookie-cutter portfolios and embracing a consultative approach, advisors create a partnership built on trust.
  2. Holistic services encourage firms to expand their capabilities to adapt to a changing world. In the last decade, clients have become jaded by fixed-fee models. At the same time, online resources have made wealth management more accessible. By shifting to a holistic client model, organizations expand their services beyond portfolio management and provide added-value services like financial advice and planning, risk mitigation, goal tracking, wealth building strategies, and even bring in experts for specialized areas like real estate, education planning, tax mitigation, and estate planning. By expanding into capabilities that they may not have focused on before, wealth management firms further align with the individual goals of their clients and can offer one-stop solutions.
  3. Likewise, holistic communication leverages the client’s communication preference. Every company has multiple engagement channels—voice, text, email, chat, video, social media, etc.—but most organizations assume that every client wants to be contacted via every channel. Yet, modern tools can equip firms to democratize their client data to share information and insights. By consolidating data and communication streams into a single hub of truth and by providing that information via client-friendly channels, wealth management firms can ensure that clients are engaged in the mediums they prefer.

Adapting in real time

It won’t be enough to lag behind your clients, real time adaptations and analysis will count.

While holistic client experiences serve as the star of wealth management’s future, next-generation technologies will be the foundation of these efforts. Trending tools like AI, life event and goal tracking, market risk analysis, smart portfolio allocation, and project automation equip organizations with the tools they need to build more responsive, reliable offerings for clients.

Imagine how predictive analytic tools will help determine the stability of future investments or the time employees could save on data entry through automation. Today’s technologies grant employees the tools they need to deliver a holistic customer experience by making their day-to-day tasks more efficient and effective.

Investing in trust

By creating a holistic client experience, wealth management firms become a reliable asset during hardship and a celebrated ally in victories. Right now, clients around the world are reassessing their investments for fear of a future crisis. In many cases, COVID-19 has fundamentally upset the way many clients view wealth management and building. It’s up to firms to empathize with those concerns and shape their efforts to bring peace of mind.

With a multitude of wealth firms fighting for their dollars, today’s clients are increasingly taking their funds to firms that demonstrate a conscious effort to understand their ambitions beyond executing trades. Wealth management firms that position themselves as true advisors and champion the hopes and dreams of their clients can foster trusting and long-lasting relationships.

The alternative is a slow descent into transactional business, commoditization, and ultimately irrelevance. The holistic wealth management firm is prepared to advocate for the best interests of their clients.

For more insights into how today’s firms can steel themselves for tomorrow’s challenges, read Microsoft’s latest eBook.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

The Buy Now Pay Later Revolution Rolls on as Zip Acquires QuadPay

The Buy Now Pay Later Revolution Rolls on as Zip Acquires QuadPay
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ACI Worldwide, additiv, Entersekt, Finovate Global, NuData Security, VISA
Photo by Chavdar Lungov from Pexels

We talked so much about the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) revolution in ecommerce that we are starting to sound like a broken record (someone please explain that reference to the younger millennials in the room). But the no-interest financing strategy is quickly becoming a must-offer feature for merchants, card issuers, and other players in the ecommerce ecosystem.

This week brings news that Zip Co, a digital retail financing and payments services company based in Australia, has agreed to acquire New York based Buy Now Pay Later company QuadPay in a deal valued at $269 million. One of the biggest BNPL companies in the U.S, QuadPay will enable Zip to expand its reach to five countries (Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the U.S., and the U.K.), a combined annualized revenue of $182 million (AU$250 million) and 3.5 million customers.

Aside from the company’s co-founders, Adam Ezra and Brad Lindenberg, Zip was the largest shareholder in QuadPay. Ezra and Lindenberg will join Zip’s global leadership team post-acquistion with the responsibility of scaling business in the U.S.

Photo by Damon Hall from Pexels

Hungry for good news on the fintech funding front? Gaze no further than Latin America where a new report from KoreFusion highlights growth in smartphone ownership, ecommerce adoption, and dissatisfactioin with banks as just a few of the reasons why Latin America’s fintech boom is ust beginning.

The study, available for free from the San Francisco, California-based consultancy, is based on a study of more than 1,000 fintechs in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. In addition to a survey of the fintech landscape – finding a concentration in the payments category with lending and B2B-based fintechs coming in second and third, respectively – the report underscores other areas – such as remittances and foreign exchange – where it believe major opportunities remain.

Read more in KoreFusion’s 2020 Latam Fintech Report.

Here is our look at fintech around the world.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • German regtech 4Stop partners with payment service provider emerchantpay.
  • ACI Worldwide announces that its technology helps power 75% of real-time payments in Hungary.
  • German P2P lender auxmoney raises $177 million (150 million euros) in growth capital.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Edenred UAE introduces mobile banking app, C3Pay.
  • Hakbah, an alternative financial savings app based in Saudi Arabia, forges a partnership with Visa.
  • Switzerland’s Additiv opens new regional headquarters in Dubai.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Google Pay launches its NFC-based contactless payment offering in India.
  • India’s Kotak Mahindra Bank introduces cardless cash withdrawals at ATMs.
  • Singapore-based fintech Atlantis goes live with neobank targeting millennials and GenZ customers in India.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Neon Pagamentos, a neobank based in Brazil, has raised $300 million in a Series C round led by General Atlantic.
  • Brazil’s Central Bank says it will rollout a central bank digital currency by 2023.
  • Nubank, a Brazilian challenger bank and the country’s second-largest credit card issuer, has secured $300 million in new funding.

Asia-Pacific

  • Vietnam-based e-payments provider NextPay announces plans to raise up to $100 million early next year via a private placement.
  • China’s UnionPay goes live with its digital bankcard.
  • Malaysia’s securities commission inks a financial technology cooperation agreement with Indonesia’s financial services regulator Otoritas Jasa Keuangan.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South Africa-based Entersket partners with NuData Security, bringing behavioral analytics to real-time risk scoring.
  • Pan-African challenger bank Union54 announces plans for a 2021 launch.
  • The National Agency for Social & Economic Inclusion (ANIES) of Guinea selects security services company Idemia fo its welfare cash transfer program.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

A Look at the Top 50 Fintech Companies in Europe

A Look at the Top 50 Fintech Companies in Europe
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Avaloq, Guest Post, Hydrogen, Klarna, Kreditech, Ledger, Numbrs, Nutmeg, Revolut, SumUp, Tink, TransferWise

The following is a guest post from Scott Raspa, Head of Marketing, Hydrogen.

The European fintech scene has experienced tremendous growth over the last few years. One of the key drivers of this growth is open banking. This is causing financial institutions and fintechs to partner together to provide more innovative, user-friendly solutions for consumers throughout Europe.

European consumers are receptive to the idea of non-financial players offering financial products, according to EY’s Global FinTech Adoption Index 2019. The survey finds that fintech adoption throughout Europe, especially in countries such as the Netherlands, U.K., Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland, are well above the global average of 64%, and aren’t showing signs of slowing down any time soon.

Below is a list of the top 50 fintech companies in Europe, based on their valuations.

RankingCompanyFundingValuationCountry
1Adyen$266M$22BNetherlands
2NexiPublic$8.2BItaly
3Klarna$1.4B$5.5BSweden
4Checkout$380M$5.5BU.K.
5Revolut$917M$5.5BU.K.
6Transferwise$1.1B$5BU.K.
7Greensill$1.7B$3.5BU.K.
8N26$782.8M$3.5BGermany
9Oaknorth$1B$2.8BU.K.
10IZettle€273.2M$2.2BSweden
11MetroBankPublic$1.92BU.K.
12Wefox$268.5M$1.65BGermany
13Funding Circle$746.4M$1.5BU.K.
14Monzo£384.7M$1.24BU.K.
15Rapyd$170M$1.2BU.K.
16Ledger$88M$1.2BFrance
17AvaloqCHF350M$1.1BSwitzerland
18Deposit Solutions$198.9M$1.1BGermany
19Ivalua$134.4M<$1.0BFrance
20Sumup$425.6M$1.0BU.K.
21Radius Payment£150M$1.0BU.K.
22Numbrs$78.8M$1.0BSwitzerland
23Monese$80.4M$1.0BU.K.
24Worldremit$407.7M<$900MU.K.
25Ebury$123.5M>$900MU.K.
26Oodle Car Finance£160M>$850MU.K.
27Qonto$151.5M>$770MFrance
28Starling Bank£363M>$600MU.K.
29Atom Bank£429M$590MU.K.
30Raisin$206M<$550MGermany
31Tradeplus24$103.5M>$550MSwitzerland
32Kreditech$347.5M<$500MGermany
33Pleo$78.8M$500MDenmark
34Smava$188.7M$500MGermany
35Tink$205.5M>$500MSweden
36Pagantis€76.2M>$400MSpain
37Gocardless$122.3M>$400MU.K.
38Wynd$123.5M>$400MFrance
39Moneyfarm$127.3M>$400MU.K.
40Soldo$83.2M>$400MU.K.
41Ratesetter£43M$360MU.K.
42solarisBank€155.1M$360MGermany
43Bitstamp$12.4M$350MU.K.
44Tinubu Square€79.3M>$350MFrance
45Nutmeg$153.6M$318MU.K.
46Banking CircleN/A$300MDenmark
47BIMA$170.6M$300MSweden
48LendInvest$1.3B>$300MU.K.
49PayFit$101.1M>$280MFrance
50Curve$74.2M$250MU.K.

These companies have raised over $16.8B (€14.3B) in venture capital funding and are valued, collectively, at over $92B (€78B).

The U.K. fintechs are valued at nearly $40B (€34B). The Netherlands are second, all thanks to Ayden, the most valuable fintech in Europe.

The U.K. has also invested the most money, nearly $11B (€9.4B), almost 65% of the funding of these top 50 fintech companies. After the U.K., Germany and Sweden have invested the most with 12.9% ($2.1B / €1.78B) and 12.4% ($2.0B / €1.7B) of the overall funding, respectively.

Fintech Enablement in Europe

Here at Hydrogen we work with companies all over the world. Our award-winning fintech enablement platform enables organizations to quickly and easily build fintech products and components. Whether you want to offer a PFM app in France, a challenger bank in the U.K., or issue cards in Germany, Hydrogen is here to help. Hydrogen has pre-built integrations, workflows, business logic, and UI already built in and available in white labeled/no-code modules or through our robust API.

It’s free to get started, so start building with Hydrogen today!

*Note: Funding information was provided by Crunchbase.com and the Euro, Pound, and US Dollar conversions were based off of today’s conversion rate. Also, total funding amounts didn’t include public companies or companies where we couldn’t identify the funding received.

Photo by H. Emre from Pexels

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

FinovateFall Digital Features Ten Keynote Speakers in its Upcoming Autumn Event

FinovateFall Digital Features Ten Keynote Speakers in its Upcoming Autumn Event
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateFall 2020, Speaker series

In less than two weeks our all-digital, fintech conference, FinovateFall Digital will begin. If you haven’t registered yet for our week-long live and On Demand event – September 14 through September 18 – then there’s no better time than the present to visit our registration page and save your spot.

To whet your appetite for the latest in fintech thought leadership and technical innovation, we wanted to introduce you to ten of the industry experts who will be presenting keynote addresses during the week.

Pablos Holman – Futurist, Innovation Speaker, Inventor at the Intellectual Ventures Lab, Founder, Turing AI. LinkedIn.

There is no try but do: Raising the bar, passing the test, and innovating in a post-COVID landscape. Preview

Scott Gnau – Vice President, Data Platforms, InterSystems. LinkedIn.

“There’s a growing opportunity to lay the foundation for game-changing business data transformation that leverages both automation and analytics for sustainable success in any business climate.”

Digital Transformation’s Journey Toward Automation and Analytics. Preview

Jeremy Balkin – Head of Innovation, HSBC. LinkedIn.

“From robotics to wearables, how is technology being used to make us more human, to further financial inclusion and to allow for greater wealth creation?”

Technology and partnerships to bring people together, and the impact of COVID-19 on partnerships. Preview

Adam Dell – Head of Product, Marcus by Goldman Sachs. LinkedIn.

“What fintech trends will emerge as a result of the pandemic and how will consumer banking be changed forever?”

The Future of Finance: Predictions for a Post-Pandemic World. Preview

Sarika Sangwan – Global Head of Strategy & Marketing – Financial Services, Pinterest. LinkedIn.

“As one of the most trusted platforms, Pinterest allows FinServ partners to reach their target audience when and where it matters most.”

Rebuilding, capitalizing and maintaining customer trust in financial services. Preview

Tom Feher – Banking industry executive, U.S. financial services, Microsoft. LinkedIn.

“As the world continues to respond to COVID-19, we’re equipping our customers with the tools they need to respond, recover, and reimagine the future.”

Coming together to respond, recover, and reimagine during COVID-19. Preview

Paul Rohan – Head of Business Strategy – Finance, Google Cloud. LinkedIn.

“In the digital 21st century, customers expect their favorite brands to collaborate to provide extended and connected digital experiences.”

Open Banking is 21st Century Branch Banking. Preview

George Anderson – Founder and CEO, Ninth Wave. LinkedIn.

“Learn how leading banks are staying ahead of the surge in demand for transparent, secure, and scalable data connectivity from business, consumer, and wealth management customers.”

Open Banking: Ignore at Your Own Peril. Preview

Mike Burr – Lead Android Enterprise Security Evangelist, Google. LinkedIn.

“Discover how to debunk security myths, and learn how the latest, multi-layered security protections, encompassing software, hardware, and application levels, now leverage the power of machine learning to protect your device fleet.”

Redefining the approach to mobile security in fintech (and why it works). Preview

Oliver Hughes – CEO, Tinkoff.

“Learn about achieving profitability as a digital bank, launching new products in the time of COVID-19, and what you need to be thinking about in terms of current and future trends in fintech.”

Digital banking in a post-COVID-19 landscape: The bright future of fintech. Preview

Photo by Magda Ehlers from Pexels

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Fiserv Unveils New Data Aggregation Solution AllData Connect

Fiserv Unveils New Data Aggregation Solution AllData Connect
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Fiserv

Fiserv announced the release of its AllData Connect solution today. The technology provides a single, authorized portal to facilitate third party access to consumer financial account data. AllData Connect makes third-party data aggregation simpler and makes screen scraping unnecessary.

“Consumers want to share their financial data with third parties in a model that’s both secure and convenient,” VP of Digital Payments and Data Aggregation at Fiserv Paul Diegelman said. “This process can be difficult for financial institutions to support if screen scraping impairs online banking performance, or when login credentials are stored at unaffiliated third parties. AllData Connect gives financial institutions the ability and insight they need to confidently empower consumers to share their financial account information.”

AllData Connect works by sending consumers to a Fiserv-hosted portal to verify their identity and provide consent for data-sharing. Once the consumer is validated by Fiserv and information access granted, AllData Connect delivers the permissioned data to third party apps for the specific activity. The solution provides confirmation and capture of consumer’s consent to share their data, managed access to online banking, secure storage of account holder usernames and passwords, and insights into where consumer information is being used. AllData Connect can also help FIs reduce the volume of unidentified bulk traffic that can inhibit website performance.

The new offering is the latest data aggregation solution within Fiserv’s AllData product suite. The suite also includes solutions for data integration by API, planning and financial management, and wealth management: AllData Aggregation, AllData PFM, and AllData Advisor, respectively.

Photo by Tim Mossholder from Pexels

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

Wealthfront Unveils First Product in Self-Driving Money Suite

Wealthfront Unveils First Product in Self-Driving Money Suite
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news, Wealthfront

The fintech industry has long fantasized about automating finances. The earliest example of this is automatic billpay, which is so common today it is considered table stakes.

Wealthtech player Wealthfront is taking personal finance automation to a new level today with the launch of Autopilot, the first service under the company’s Self-Driving Money umbrella. Autopilot takes Wealthfront Cash clients’ savings and automatically monitors their balances and moves money around on their behalf to maximize their savings and returns.

Wealthfront Cash is a challenger banking service the company launched last year. The account, which is key to the company’s Self-Driving Money concept, is fee-free and pays accountholders 0.35% APY on their savings. When an accountholder’s paycheck is deposited into their account, Wealthfront optimizes the allocation of the funds by automatically paying bills and routing the remaining funds to investments, savings accounts, debt payoff, etc.

“Our clients are diligent savers and follow best practices to grow their savings, but they struggle to prioritize managing their finances among a long list of competing priorities,” said Chris Hutchins, Wealthfront’s Head of Autonomous Financial Planning. “This can lead to missed days in the market or missed days of compounding interest, which has a huge negative impact on your long term net worth. Autopilot is your free financial assistant, automating your financial tasks to ensure your savings are put to work immediately in the best account for your goals.”

Wealthfront’s next development will improve upon the speed of money movement within its ecosystem by implementing services such as same-day investing. The company already offers clients the option to receive their paychecks up to two days early when they use direct deposit with their Wealthfront Cash account.

“We’ve set out to build a new system that makes money with our clients, not off of them as traditional banks do,” said Wealthfront Co-founder Dan Carroll. “The system we’re building has the potential to be one of the biggest wealth creation engines of our generation, automatically optimizing your money in the background while saving you time and stress.”

Photo by Nathan Lindahl on Unsplash

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook

How Capital Markets Firms Can Mitigate Risk in Periods of Uncertainty

How Capital Markets Firms Can Mitigate Risk in Periods of Uncertainty
By Charlie Burgess Posted on
Categories: Sponsored

The following is a sponsored post from Michael Hom, Head of Financial Solutions at InterSystems, Gold Sponsors of FinovateFall Digital 2020, September 14 through 18, 2020.

Currently, external factors like the COVID-19 pandemic mean that the global economy has become increasingly volatile and capital markets firms are having to work harder than ever to make sure users, both retail and institutional, can continue to trade without interruption.

As these financial organizations look to mitigate risk in this period of uncertainty, gaining operational resilience, implementing risk mitigation strategies, and having the right technology in place will be crucial to continue to deliver value to customers, comply with regulations, get ahead of the competition – and, most importantly, maintain trust.

Given this, the pressure for incumbents to upgrade infrastructure is only increasing, but challenges remain in doing so. While the pandemic may have been the linchpin for organizations to start embracing new technologies there are still barriers to overcome and best practices to be put into play to not only mitigate risk, but also prepare capital markets for what’s to come in the future:

Replacing legacy technology

Critical to mitigating risk is ensuring data is available quickly and easily accessible. For many capital markets firms this is an area where they struggle due to a significant amount of legacy technology in their infrastructure and, consequently, data siloes.

Connecting these disparate systems will be vital to not only help them with performance issues they have today, adapting to situations such as mass remote working, for example, but also so they are capable of growing with them into the future.

This requires them to adopt solutions that can seamlessly run, scale, and expand into the cloud. By replacing legacy infrastructure, they will have the benefit of providing new technologies and innovations access to their wealth of valuable data.

These solutions should also be location agnostic to allow capital markets firms to be agile and take advantage of new technology and services and bring that into their existing infrastructure.

Investment in the future

As these institutions look to replace their legacy technology, they should focus their investments on two key areas.

First, they should invest in platform scalability as being able to scale up as the market spikes is crucial and can be a major differentiator. This scalability can even give firms a competitive edge with some firms having recently gained market share solely due their ability to scale up.

The second area of investment should be in analytics and automation that can support and, in some cases, reduce the manual-intensive workload. We’ve already seen increases in algorithmic trading and customer chatbot technologies, while many organizations within the financial services industry use AI to automate processes, such as fraud checks and compliance.

With less time spent on time-intensive manual tasks, capital markets firms will be able to direct their attention to more value-adding services for their clients. The use of AI will help to spot patterns and anomalies in those patterns much faster for fraud prevention, while also reducing the risk of human error.

Gaining access to real-time data

Is your data strategy keeping up in real-time?

Within capital markets firms, there is a growing requirement to be able to access real-time data so these organizations can simplify their stack and get access to transactions that are happening in the moment. This will allow them to produce more time-sensitive reporting so they can make appropriate business decisions and better comply with regulatory requirements.

Data fabric

Data fabrics are fast becoming a key trend within data management across the board, helping to reduce friction. Improving the accuracy, availability and accessibility of data and should also be a consideration as capital markets weather this period of uncertainty and beyond.

A data fabric that uses the latest technology will help organizations to better grasp data governance, ensure that their data is clean and accurate, to harmonize that data where appropriate, and make it more accessible. All of these will help them derive more value and better insights from their data to help drive their enterprises and those of their customers forward.

How can capital markets firms not only survive, but also thrive?

As capital markets firms look beyond this period of volatility to thriving long term, it’s vital they embrace agility by implementing modern technology with a focus on analytics and automation. This will allow them to quickly adapt to changing and new business needs by helping them to make use of their data, analyze it, monetize it, and turn it into actionable intelligence.

In an increasingly competitive landscape, where new market entrants aren’t weighed down by legacy technology and architectures, this will be a key differentiator and enable capital markets firms to take advantage of new opportunities within the market faster.

If you want to hear more about this subject, listen to this webinar in which InterSystems takes a deep dive into the challenges facing capital markets firms and how they can mitigate risk, alongside a panel of other industry experts from Northern Trust, Westwood Group, and SIX Securities & Exchanges. Or read InterSystems‘ latest blog posts on Data Excellence.

Share this:

Send Post Twitter LinkedIn Facebook