Sallie Krawcheck’s Ellevest Launches Debit Card & Banking Services

Sallie Krawcheck’s Ellevest Launches Debit Card & Banking Services

Women-focused wealthtech firm Ellevest unveiled its newest offering today. The company, which was founded by former Merrill Lynch CEO and former Citigroup CFO Sallie Krawcheck, has expanded its online investing platform to launch banking services.

“At Ellevest, our mission is to get more money in the hands of women+ — because we know that everyone deserves the opportunity to build wealth, and that nothing bad happens when women have more money,” the company announced in a blog post. “Today, we’re launching the first-of-its-kind money membership designed to get more money in the hands of women+.”

The new banking services are available with an Ellevest membership, which ranges from $1 per month for the Essential plan to $5 per month for the Plus plan, and $9 per month for the Executive plan. All membership options include banking services, investing opportunities, and educational resources. Other services include personalized retirement recommendations and multi-goal investment accounts.

Ellevest’s fashion-forward debit card

Members can access two accounts– one for spending and one for saving. The checking account comes with a World Debit Mastercard connected to an FDIC-insured account. The accounts boast no hidden fees, no minimum balance requirements, no transfer fees, no overdraft fees, and ATM fee reimbursements.

In the competitive world of challenger banks, none of these features stand out. However, Ellevest has created a bit of a cult following with its women-focused approach and content generation. The company has 180,000 followers on Instagram, which is 10x the number of followers that BBVA-owned Simple has, and more than Revolut, Monzo, and N26.

Ellevest’s gender-filtered approach further differentiates it when it comes to investing. The company’s personalized investment portfolio “includes a gender-aware investment algorithm that factors in important realities like pay gaps, career breaks, and average lifespans.”

Today’s announcement isn’t the first time a wealthtech platform has broadened its offerings to become a challenger bank. Betterment, Wealthfront, SoFi, M1 Finance, and Personal Capital all offer online-only checking accounts.

Ellevest was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New York. The company has raised $77.6 million.

MyLife’s Jeff Tinsley on Creating a “Reputation Score” and the Future of Personal Data

MyLife’s Jeff Tinsley on Creating a “Reputation Score” and the Future of Personal Data

It’s the FraudTech day of the Finovate Fintech Halftime Review, and we welcome Jeff Tinsley, CEO of MyLife to talk fraud management and prevention and how MyLife can be used by financial institutions to educate and add value for their consumers.

David Penn, our own Finovate Analyst, asks what sort of things go into creating a Reputation Score, and how MyLife protects people from fraud?

Watch the full interview.

Find out more about MyLife and get in touch with Tim (timp@mylife-inc.com) for any questions or partnership inquiries.

nCino Readies for IPO

nCino Readies for IPO

Cloud banking specialist nCino is the latest fintech to announce its intention to go public.

In a brief statement shared on Monday, the Wilmington, North Carolina-based company reported that it had publicly filed a registration statement on Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for their proposed initial public offering. nCino made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2017.

The company’s announcement did not disclose the number of shares to be offered, nor the price range of the offering. Renaissance Capital reported that nCino is seeking to raise $100 million. The company expects to trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker “NCNO.”

Underwriting the IPO are Bank of America Securities, Barclays, KeyBanc Capital Markets, and SunTrust Robinson Humphrey.

nCino’s Bank Operating System, built on the Salesforce platform, provides financial institutions of all sizes with an end-to-end banking solution that enables them to deliver the kind of digital experience banking customers have come to expect. The platform combines customer relationship management, loan origination, workflow, enterprise content management, as well as business intelligence and reporting, all in a single, secure, cloud-based environment. On average, financial institutions using nCino’s Bank Operating System have enjoyed a 40% decrease in loan closing time, a 92% reduction in servicing costs, and a 127% increase in account opening completion rates.

Founded in 2012, nCino has raised more than $213 million in funding. The company reported revenue growth of almost 50%, reaching $44.7 million, for the quarter ending in April. nCino also reported revenue of $138.2 million in its most recent fiscal year, ending in January. This year, the company has forged partnerships with Alterna Bank, a subsidiary of Alterna Savings and Credit Union Limited, and with Swedish SME lender Yourban. Additional partnerships announced in the first half of the year include collaborations with Fulton Bank and Black Hills FCU. Pierre Naudé is President and Chief Executive Officer.


Photo courtesy of Les Finances

From COVID-19 to Inclusion: Fintech Faces New Challenges

From COVID-19 to Inclusion:  Fintech Faces New Challenges

In the middle of the first month of the year, one of the biggest names in the payments business acquired one of the most innovative fintech infrastructure companies in the industry, in a deal valued at more than $5 billion.

Six months later, Visa’s acquisition of Plaid almost seems like news from another time.

The arrival of the coronavirus to virtually every corner of the globe – and the worldwide response to the killing of a black man in police custody in the U.S. – have sent shock waves through the fintech industry – as they have the rest of the world. Now, at the same time, fintech is engaged in both the struggle to help businesses and consumers cope with the closures and shelter-in-place restrictions of the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the challenge of correcting decades of discriminatory practices against African Americans and members of other underrepresented ethnic groups. As we approach the middle of 2020, fintech is facing different kind of crisis that, while not of its own making, will require a response that is uniquely tailored to the world it operates in.

This is a world that is both heavily technical, relying on the latest innovations in machine learning, artificial intelligence, and distributed ledger technology, while simultaneously pledging to bring the benefits of 21st century financial services to the underbanked and underserved populations of both post-industrial and developing economies. This is a world that has grown tremendously through the contributions of people from diverse backgrounds, representing cultures from almost every corner of the globe. Yet, at the same time, it is a world that is still struggling to achieve true gender and ethnic diversity, particularly in the C-suite and in the boardroom.

There are many ways to value an industry: the quality of the goods it produces; the entertainment, education, or simple well-being its services provide; even just the degree of pure, gee-whiz innovation the industry may deliver, often seeming to grant us what we want even before we summon up the nerve to wish for it.

But as the fintech industry edges closer, inexorably, toward maturity, it now finds itself increasingly judged on the kind of criteria Corporate America – often to its own surprise and bewilderment – can find itself judged on from time to time. This is a judgement that has less to do with what Corporate America makes and sells, and more with who Corporate America is and what it values.

Both the global public health crisis and the renewed determination to fight racial inequality are providing fintech as an industry with an opportunity to show the world just what it’s made of. As we move into the second half of this historic year, I am hopeful and optimistic that fintech will rise to the challenge.


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ITSCREDIT’s João Lima Pinto on the Genie Advisor App and a New Direction for 2020

ITSCREDIT’s João Lima Pinto on the Genie Advisor App and a New Direction for 2020

As part of our Finovate FinTech Halftime Review, Finovate Analyst David Penn sat down with João Lima Pinto, Chairman of ITSCREDIT. With nearly 20 years of solid experience in the financial sector, actively participating in the design and implementation of innovative omnichannel and credit solutions, Pinto has garnered much success by leading a variety of business development, product and project management, business analysis, and product operations functions.

Among the topics discussed include ITSCREDIT’S Genie Advisor app, how the company has seen the COVID-19 crisis impact its customer base, and its plan to address the challenges and move forward in 2020.

Watch the full interview now.

Fear of Fraud Surrounds Wirecard’s Missing $2 Billion

Fear of Fraud Surrounds Wirecard’s Missing $2 Billion

To speake of the woe that has befallen Wirecard …

The international fintech community received an unexpected jolt on Friday on news that the CEO of Wirecard, Markus Braun, was stepping down. Braun’s resignation comes amid reports that the German digital financial platform he has led since 2002 cannot account for $2.1 billion in cash, and a delay in the release of its 2019 financial report. Reuters reported that the company admits it could be have been “the victim of fraud of considerable proportions.”

Up until recently Wirecard appeared poised for success as a leading European payment processor for both consumers and businesses. The company reported revenues of $2.2 billion in 2018 and, by the fall of that year, had reached a valuation of $26.9 billion.

But suspicious of the company deepened early last year. A Financial Times report in January alleging suspicious financial activity in Singapore, and the announcement of an official investigation by Singapore authorities a month later, tarnished Wirecard’s image despite the company’s denials. This was followed by claims of further questionable financial activity – this time in Ireland – in October.

In this week’s news, auditors at EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young, were not able to locate cash at two Asian banks – Bank of the Philippine Islands and BDO Unibank – where Wirecard said $2 billion had been deposited. Both banks have denied having a business relationship with Wirecard. Moreover, documents indicating that such a relationship did exist, according to BDO, were falsified and bore forged signatures.

In a statement, Wirecard announced that James Freis, who was recently appointed to the company’s management board, will serve as interim CEO. the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, known as BaFin, is investigating.


Here is our weekly look at fintech around the world.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Brazil-based SME lender BizCapital raises $12 million in Series B funding to support development of new products.
  • Banco Sabadell partners with IBM to enhances its digital banking operations in Mexico.
  • Banco Safra, based in Brazil, to deploy ACI Worldwide’s UP Retail Payments solution and UP Framework.

Asia-Pacific

  • Vietnam Plus reports surge in contactless payments in Vietnam.
  • Crowdfund Insider investigates the rise of Sharia fintech in Indonesia.
  • Malaysian fintech Curlec, which helps businesses manage recurring payments and cash flow, secures investment from 500 Startups.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • South African open banking startup – and FinovateAfrica alum – truID announces seed funding.
  • Nigeria’s Chipper Cash secures $13.8 million in Series A funding.
  • WapiPay, a fintech based in Kenya and Singapore that provides platform-to-platform integration for virtual and global accounts, raises seed funding via accelerator network FutureHub.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Estonia’s Planet42 announces $2.4 million seed round led by Change Ventures. The company helps facilitate automobile access for the underbanked in South Africa.
  • Russia’s Tinkoff teams up with online marketplace goods.ru.
  • Boku acquires Estonia-based mobile payments company Fortumo in deal valued at $45 million.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • UAE-based Buy Now Pay Later e-commerce company Postpay introduces a trio of new installment payment options.
  • The Fintech Times takes a look at the state of the fintech and financial services industry in Lebanon.
  • Tpay Mobile, based in Dubai, acquires Turkish payments company Payguru.

Central and Southern Asia

  • Cryptocurrency exchange Binance joins the Indian Tech Association.
  • Kaspi, an e-commerce banking app based in Kazakhstan, to expand to Azerbaijan and other neighboring countries.
  • India Infoline launches #IIFLDisrupt, an initiative to help early-stage Indian fintechs during the COVID-19 crisis.
  • India-based Buy Now Pay Later company Tabby raises $7 million in funding to support expansion into Saudi Arabia.

Photo by Alisha Lubben from Pexels

Finovate Alums Earn Spots in CNBC’s 2020 Disruptor 50

Finovate Alums Earn Spots in CNBC’s 2020 Disruptor 50

Six companies that have demonstrated their fintech innovations on the Finovate stage have been recognized this year by CNBC as part of their Disruptor 50 roster for 2020.

This year’s list, the eighth in the series, is marked by the high number of billion-dollar companies, or “unicorns.” Fully 36 of the firms in the 2020 CNBC Disruptor 50 have reached or surpassed the $1 billion valuation mark. Combined, the 50 companies have raised more than $74 billion in VC funding and achieved an implied market valuation of almost $277 billion.

The companies making the cut range in industry from cybersecurity and healthcare IT to education and, of course, fintech. In fact, the top-ranked company in the 2020 Disruptor 50 is none other than Stripe, the $36 billion payments platform founded in 2010. Stripe earned a #13 ranking in last year’s Disruptor 50 roster, and likely owes its first place appearance this year to a major $600 million funding raising – the company’s largest to date – and the economic and social consequences of the global health crisis.

“With many people throughout the world under lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19,” CNBC’s capsule on the company noted, “the move to shopping online has never been greater. That’s good news for digital payments platform Stripe.”

Stripe was not the only fintech to earn high marks from the 2020 Disruptor 50’s methodology. In addition to the half dozen Finovate alums below, some of the other fintechs on this year’s roster include:

  • Virtual bank WeLab (Hong Kong)
  • Digital mortgage company Better.com (New York City)
  • “Buy now pay later” e-commerce company Affirm (San Francisco, California)
  • Challenger bank Chime (San Francisco, California)
  • Banking app Dave (Los Angeles, California)
  • Microfinancier TALA (Santa Monica, California)
  • Trading and investing platform Robinhood (Menlo Park, California)

Also earning spots in this year’s list were a pair of insurtech companies, Lemonade and Root Insurance, as well as cybersecurity and biometric authentication firms SentinelOne and CLEAR, respectively.

Here’s a look at the Finovate alums that made this year’s list.

#5 Klarna

  • Founded: 2005
  • Headquarters: Stockholm, Sweden
  • CEO: Sebastian Siemiakowski
  • Valuation: $5.5 billion
  • Previous ranking: #8 in 2016

#8 SoFi

  • Founded: 2011
  • Headquarters: San Francisco, California
  • CEO: Antony Noto
  • Valuation: $4.8 billion
  • Previous ranking: #26 in 2019

#24 Kabbage

  • Founded: 2009
  • Headquarters: Atlanta, Georgia
  • CEO: Rob Frohwein
  • Valuation: $1.1 billion
  • Previous ranking: #14 in 2019

#27 Trulioo

  • Founded: 2011
  • Headquarters: Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
  • CEO: Steve Munford
  • Valuation: N.A.
  • Previous ranking: #37 in 2017

#28 Ripple

  • Founded: 2012
  • Headquarters: San Francisco, California
  • CEO: Brad Garlinghouse
  • Valuation: $10 billion
  • Previous ranking: First appearance

#33 Marqeta

  • Founded: 2010
  • Headquarters: Oakland, California
  • CEO: Jason Gardner
  • Valuation: $4.3 billion
  • Previous ranking: First appearance

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What is Next for Digital Transformation in Financial Services?

What is Next for Digital Transformation in Financial Services?

The following is a guest post by Natalie Myshkina, Strategic Business Development, FSI at Adobe.

Like many industries and businesses right now, financial organizations in banking are finalizing and implementing business continuity/contingency plans as well as enabling all employees to work from home. At the same time, they are diligently working to meet changing client needs and building new ways to serve clients. Beyond the operational actions underway, banks and capital markets need to start developing medium- and longer-term plans to address each element of financial, risk, and regulatory compliance, and create new environments to support the business in fully digital settings.

In late 2019, an Arizent survey commissioned by the Credit Union Journal and American Banker reported that only 30 percent of organizations have a digital first, enterprise-wide strategy and readiness. Other organizations are still in the middle or beginning of the digital transformation of their businesses.

While most organizations have business continuity plans, they have been heavily tested over the last few weeks. I’d like to highlight a few operational steps that are essential to consider now for banks:

  • Transparency and trust
    Continue to adjust a communication plan to quickly liaise with employees, customers, business partners, regulators, investors, and vendors. Keeping close communications with customers and other stakeholders creates the opportunity to strengthen the relationship.
  • Operating model
    Implement a dynamic, scalable, and flexible operating model to ensure business continuity in any scenario. For example, in the case of temporary closures, branches need to quickly train branch employees to provide online help or assist the call center in serving clients.
  • Remote services and capabilities
    Many enterprise organizations have an extensive set of workflow tools, document management tools, document collaboration, and electronic signature solutions in place, but they are not fully utilized. For example, one department in the organization may fully embrace digital documents and electronic signatures, while another department keeps receiving and sending snail mail. The solution here would be to review best practices and tools across the organization, understand the full capabilities of available solutions, and offer them to unit managers to utilize as immediate solutions.
  • Digital project prioritization
    Conduct project prioritization exercises, and speed up projects related to offering digital products and services (client onboarding, product enrollment, etc.) or operational inefficiencies. If possible, speed up time-to-market or release solutions with limited/partial functionality or limited integration points.
  • Organizational culture
    Communicating and fostering the culture that maintains employee morale is becoming extremely important, and it can be done in different forms: through top-down communication and leaders acting as role models, by encouraging grassroots initiatives, by providing platforms for team collaboration, creating virtual watercoolers, etc.
  • Peer communications
    Be in close contact with industry groups for information to get best practices and requests to obtain waivers from regulators if required.

The coronavirus pandemic is already leading to major changes in how customers manage their finances and how financial organizations support their customers. Next we would be seeing activities related to meeting changing client needs due to financial stress, supporting client activities in digital channels, rapid digitalization in commercial and corporate banking, and more.

Here are a few notable areas financial organizations should address:

  • Proactively address new customer needs
    To operate in the new environment, banks would need to rapidly meet different client needs and serve them in ways outside the norm. Scalable solutions to process and approve requests for forbearance, mortgage holidays, deferred loan repayments, etc. would need to be implemented quickly as well as quickly scale up the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) via the SBA program.
  • Branchless banking and self-service options in digital channel
    Due to the temporary closing of branches and reduced ATM availability and usage, the branchless banking or virtual branches idea is becoming more popular. As many interactions move online, expect to see more and more consumers want to use self-service tools on the web and in their mobile devices.
  • Rapid digitalization and digital service accessibility across all customer lifecycles stages
    For many organizations, their digital transformations began with onboarding new clients. But often we see that many other client touchpoints in the customer lifecycle are not fully digitized, and some require manual/paper steps. In the new environment, most of the client-initiated activities would be done on digital platforms. Automation is essential to provide clients with fast service and a consistent experience while keeping cost-effective operating model in place.
  • Expending successful digitalization of customer touchpoints beyond retail banking
    Over the last few years, we have seen substantial efforts and budgets spent on elevating customer experiences and moving clients to digital platforms. This has been done for many reasons, one of them was a demand from a digitally native consumer to have a better experience and the competition coming from neobanks (aka digital-only banks).

    Commercial and corporate banks were behind this trend partially because the lack of these drivers and the complexity of the processes. In the new reality, we would be seeing a lot of rapid digitalization of customer-facing and internal activities in commercial/corporate banking and capital markets.
  • Data use, extraction and manipulation
    Going forward, the ability to extract and process data from multiple documents will be essential to manage risks and to create cost-conscious processes. Immediately, we could see requests for solutions to process documents to feed systems assessing portfolio health in stressed markets, or complete search thought legal documents.
  • Adaption of cloud solutions
    As financial services organizations have been behind the curve in the cloud solution adaption, this situation will trigger a revisit of internal policies and expedite further cloud adoption for both client-facing and internal solutions to improve efficiencies, eliminating the need for a larger security and maintenance staff, and creating cost-effective, scalable environments.

During these trying times, banks can best serve their clients by delivering products and services for business continuity today while working on business resilience for the future. Industry experts predict that the current situation will accelerate the digital transformation in the industry over the a short period of time. That time starts now.


Photo by Twixes on Unsplash

Neobank Upgrade Secures $40 Million Investment from Santander

Neobank Upgrade Secures $40 Million Investment from Santander

In a round led by Santander InnoVentures, Upgrade, the San Francisco, California-based neobank co-launched by LendingClub founder Renaud Laplanche, has raised $40 million in new funding. The Series D round takes the company’s total funding to $202 million, and gives the neobank a valuation of $1 billion.

“We are thrilled to welcome Santander InnoVentures as a new shareholder,” said Laplanche, who is Upgrade’s CEO. “Our strategy of partnering with banks and credit unions of all sizes is delivering tremendous value to our partners and customers, and we are delighted to add one of the world’s largest banks to our partner roster.”

Also participating in the Series D were new investors Ventura Capital and Uncorrelated Ventures, as well as existing investors Union Square Ventures, Ribbit, Vy Capital, and Silicon Valley Bank.

Opening its doors in 2017, Upgrade specializes in providing financing for mainstream consumers via its card and personal loan products. The company, which also provides free credit monitoring and financial education tools, has provided more than $3 billion in consumer credit via its solutions. More than ten million consumers have applied for either the company’s Upgrade card or loan.

“We’re excited to support Upgrade in their next stage of growth,” senior advisor at Santander InnoVentures Chris Gottschalk said. “Upgrade is building a neobank with credit at its heart, which we believe is a smart strategy as credit represents 70% of banking revenue globally and is often the main reason customers seek banking services.”

In addition to helping drive growth at the company, the funding will support the upcoming launch of a new mobile banking product, the Upgrade Account. Named “Best Place to Work in the Bay Area” by the San Francisco Business Times and Silicon Valley Business Journal for three years in a row, Upgrade launched its first contactless-enabled Upgrade Card – as well as a digital form of the card facilitate mobile payments via Apple Pay and Google Pay – in April.

Upgrade’s personal credit lines and personal loans are issued by partner Cross River Bank. The firm’s Upgrade Card is issued by Sutton Bank, via a license from Visa.


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COVID-19, Diversity, and Innovations in Inclusivity

COVID-19, Diversity, and Innovations in Inclusivity

With a growing consciousness worldwide on the topic of systemic racism, corporations are doing everything from pro-diversity affirmations (arguably not enough) to mass board resignations (arguably far too much) in order to stay (or get) on the right side of public opinion on a key issue for many of their customers.

We took a look at some of the ways those fighting in favor of a more inclusive financial services and fintech sector can learn from the successes of the women’s movement a few days ago. Here, we offer a few more specific examples of not just what financial institutions can do to help promote ethnic diversity in their companies, but also what financial institutions and fintechs are actually doing.

Celebrate Diversity

With Juneteenth taking place this Friday, some financial institutions have decided to treat the date – which marks the moment African slaves in Texas in 1865 learned of the Emancipation Proclamation – as the official occasion many African Americans have always believed it to be. Fifth Third Bancorp and Truist Financial are among a number of companies that have elected to recognize Juneteenth as a holiday for their employees and customers.

“As we consider the tremendous significance of this day and what it represents, it also reminds us of how far we still must go to have equality and inclusion for all,” Greg D. Carmichael, chairman, president and CEO of Fifth Third Bancorp said earlier this week. “As we observe Juneteeth, each of us should pause, reflect, and contemplate its significance and what it meant 155 years ago, what it means today, and how we might take action to make tomorrow better for everyone.”

Fifth Third will close its offices early on Friday, shutting down at 2pm local time. And while a number of other major financial institutions have made similar commemorations, Fifth Third is believed to be the first FI to offer its employees Juneteenth as a paid holiday.

Show the Money

The $40 million Netflix CEO Reed Hastings and his wife Patty Quillin have announced they will donate to the United Negro College Fund, and a pair of historically black colleges Spelman and Morehouse, is an example of the kind of “put your money where your mouth is” act that many pro-diversity advocates have called for.

Some of the biggest financial services companies and banks in the United States have unveiled similar initiatives. Citi, for example, announced that it will direct $8 million to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, the National Urban League, and the National Fair Housing Alliance.

Also pulling out the checkbook in the name of diversity are firms like Bank of America, which announced a $1 billion/four year commitment to help local communities of color at a time when the COVID-19 crisis is making a disproportionate impact on black and brown Americans.

“Underlying economic and social disparities that exist have accelerated and intensified during the global pandemic,” Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said earlier this month when the initiative was announced. “The events of the past week have created a sense of true urgency that has arisen across our nation, particularly in view of the racial injustices we have seen in the communities where we work and live. We all need to do more.”

People Who Need People

Honoring the past is important. And putting real resources to work to make opportunities possible for historically excluded groups is a critical component in achieving a more inclusive world. But, without putting too fine a point to it, the best way to promote diversity is to hire more diverse people.

Analysts looking at the barriers to increasing diversity have cited three chief hurdles: (1) finding diverse candidates to interview, (2) retaining diverse employees, and (3) getting diverse candidates past interview stage. And while the second two issues have a lot to do with the culture of a company, something that may not substantially improve until after diversity and inclusivity gains are made, the first challenge – finding good candidates – is one all companies and organizations should pledge to overcome.

For many companies, this may mean looking in typically overlooked places for otherwise untapped talent. Student organizations, including a very active African American collegiate and post-collegiate fraternity and sorority system, can be a an excellent way to reach today many of the people who will be leaders in their communities tomorrow. Diversity-oriented venture capital firms – such as Harlem Capital Partners, the Black Angel Tech Fund, and Base Ventures – are excellent sources for insight into black and brown entrepreneurship in the technology sector.

As Chamath Palihaptiya, venture capitalist and founder of Social Capital, wrote almost five years ago:

We need to recapture our potential and open the doors. Invite more people into the decision making: young people, Blacks, Latinos, females, LGBT and others who aren’t necessarily part of the obvious majority.  Surround ourselves with a more diverse set of experiences and maybe we will prioritize a more diverse set of things. Maybe we will find more courage to do the hard things.

Half a decade later, many of us in the technology community in general and the fintech world in specific are still waiting. But it appears increasingly the case that, for now, our communities are ready to act.


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Ripple Signs First Bank Customer for RippleNet Cloud

Ripple Signs First Bank Customer for RippleNet Cloud

Blockchain payment solutions company Ripple announced this week it has signed Banco Rendimento to RippleNet Cloud. The addition of the Brazil-based bank marks the first bank to leverage Ripple’s cloud-based solution.

This news comes a year-and-a-half after Banco Rendimento joined RippleNet in 2019. “Migrating our payment infrastructure to RippleNet Cloud allows us to provide our customers with a best-in-class experience,” said Banco Rendimento FX Superintendent Jacques Zylbergeld. “Customers can now enjoy more transparency and easier navigation for both submitting payments and trading. RippleNet also allows us access to global partners, offering a standardized solution, and ensuring the integration and onboarding processes are seamless.”

Banco Rendimento considers itself a pioneer in the international payments space and is working to grow the payments ecosystem with high quality, fair cost solutions. With the implementation of RippleNet Cloud, the bank expects it will increase payment volumes by the first quarter of next year.

RippleNet is Ripple’s global payment network that connects 300+ financial institutions worldwide to enable faster, lower-cost payments. Currently, two dozen non-bank financial services companies, including Azimo, MoneyMatch, iRemit, Usend / Pontual, MoneyGram, and Viamericas, are clients of Ripple’s cloud service. And the customer list is increasing. Ripple reported that in the first quarter of this year, 81% of new RippleNet customers opted for cloud deployment and and 30% of all RippleNet payments are now being sent and/or received through RippleNet Cloud.

Earlier this year, Ripple announced that Azimo, in partnership with Thailand’s Siam Commercial bank (SCB), began leveraging RippleNet to launch instant cross-border payments from Europe to Thailand.

Ripple has offices in San Francisco, Washington D.C., New York, London, Mumbai, Singapore, São Paulo, Reykjavik and Dubai, and counts more than 300 customers around the world. The company’s payments network operates in 45+ countries across six continents. Ripple was founded in 2012 and has since amassed $294 million across 13 rounds of funding. Chris Larsen is founder and CEO.


Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

Expensify Unveils New Virtual Travel Assistant Concierge Travel

Expensify Unveils New Virtual Travel Assistant Concierge Travel

Expense management platform Expensify launched its latest solution today. The offering, Concierge Travel, is a virtual travel assistant that makes it easier for travelers to build their itineraries and plan their excursions in the COVID-19 era.

“While most of us are avoiding travel right now, there are still essential workers whose trips can’t be cancelled or postponed,” Expensify CEO and founder David Barrett explained. “We want to help them travel in the safest possible way.”

Concierge Travel is available to Expensify cardholders and can be used to book flights, make hotel reservations, reserve rental cars and more – free of charge. All bookings via Concierge Travel also feature complimentary safety alerts and travel risk advisories from Global Rescue. The free Global Rescue membership offers a range of services for travelers including transportation to the cardholder’s hospital of choice in an emergency, as well as health and security assessments and entry and exit requirements for international travelers.

“With Concierge Travel, your free Global Rescue membership provides world-class safety and medical services,” Barrett added. “On top of that, Concierge lets you know about any COVID-related travel restrictions in advance, including specific stay-at-home orders in place, social distancing measures, and other info on the city you’re visiting.”

A Finovate alum since 2009, Expensify demonstrated the technology behind its expense management platform at our developers conference, FinDEVr Silicon Valley, in 2016. The company introduced its corporate card last fall, offering spending controls and expense management in a single solution that in some ways harkens back to the firm’s origins more than a decade ago.

“Expensify started as a corporate card way back in 2008 before we decided to focus on expense,” Barrett said when the card was launched, “so it’s fun to see the product come full circle with a card that naturally extends our existing platform.”

Founded in 2008 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Expensify has raised $38.2 million in funding according to Crunchbase. The company includes Redpoint Ventures, OpenView, PJC, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) among its investors.

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