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Personalization and One-to-One Communication

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on April 29, 2020
Categories: Email, Interview, Larky, Speaker series

Gregg Hammerman has seen first hand what works when it comes to personalization. In fact, in 2012, he launched a company built around the entire premise of personalization.

Hammerman is now CEO of Larky, a mobile engagement platform that enables financial institutions to put the right message on an account holders’ lock screen at the right place and time. However, personalization and push notifications– while effective– can be difficult to implement. Not only do the timing and location have to be perfect, there is a careful balance between messaging and spam. On top of that, privacy is often a top concern for both financial institutions and their end users.

We caught up with Hammerman to tap his expertise on implementing a personalized user experience.

When it comes to personalization in fintech we often hear of sending offers to the right consumer at the right time in the right place. What is the most challenging aspect of this?

Hammerman: It’s critical to make sure that these communications are relevant, meaningful, and helpful to the consumer. We work closely with financial institutions to create experiences that use these communications to make people feel like they are part of a special club.

Three key things make our programs a success. First, we recommend segmenting an audience so you can tailor messaging for a person who has a mortgage, someone who recently purchased a car, a student with a new checking account, and other unique parameters that shape consumer habits. Second, scarcity is a powerful component. Consumers want to know that they have access to something special that isn’t available to everyone. Third, communications need to be fresh. Consumers want to see new messages and new experience opportunities on a regular basis.

What measures does Larky have in place to keep banks from fatiguing their customers with too many alerts and messages?

Hammerman: We work closely with our financial institution clients to give them complete control over how they communicate with their customers. The financial institution is always able to increase or decrease messaging frequency based on what is the best fit for their audience.

From an end-user perspective, account holders can snooze messages, turn off some types of notifications, and more. A lot of this discussion returns to making sure that these communications have high value. If every time I go for an auto repair, my financial institution tells me that I can save $100 because I’m a valued account holder, I’ll never fatigue from that message.

Thinking about geo-targeting, how does Larky balance a user’s privacy with the need to know their physical location?

Hammerman: Larky has been on the forefront of user privacy since our initial solution launched in 2013. We believe that users have the right to access any information that is collected or stored about them, and the right to obtain that information and have it destroyed if desired.

We are in compliance with all regulations from Europe and California. We plan to continue to lead and innovate on privacy. We don’t sell the data that passes through our servers. It’s not part of our business model. We have never and will never share any user information with any third parties.

Aside from knowing a consumer’s location and the best time to send a relevant offer, how else does Larky help banks with personalization?

Hammerman: We’re now working with financial institutions to leverage data from their other systems to help personalize communications. For example, we help improve new account holder onboarding with touchpoints that welcome and educate new clients and help them become more engaged with the financial institution.

We’re able to help financial institutions create campaigns that reach out to only their account holders who have an auto loan, just one account with the financial institution, recently started direct deposit of their paycheck, and much more. We’re finding that partnering with financial institutions to personalize the right message to the right consumer increases the impact of the campaign and includes account holder engagement.

BMO Harris Bank and 1871 Team Up to Launch Women’s Fintech Mentoring Project

By David Penn Posted on April 29, 2020
Categories: Daily news, Women in Fintech

Photo by **energepic.com** from **Pexels**

A collaboration between BMO Harris Bank and incubator 1871 has been launched to help empower the next generation of women-led fintech startups. The innovation lab sponsored by the two organizations is now accepting applications for its female-focused startup leadership mentoring program, WMN•FINtech.

“Women face unique challenges when running any business, especially startups,” BMO Harris Bank head of U.S. business banking Niamh Kristufek said. “We designed this year’s program to help women innovators and entrepreneurs overcome barriers and bring new ideas to market.”

As many as five startups will be selected for WMN•FINtech, which seeks to help close the sizable gender gap in the technology startup industry. In their program announcement, BMO and 1871 note that only 20% of startups that raised their first funding rounds last year were led by women. To this end, WMN•FINtech will give women entrepreneurs the guidance, working space, and networking opportunities that can enable them to develop their fintech innovations.

1871 CEO Betsy Ziegler called the initiative a “doubling down on women founders focused on solving the hardest finance problems.” The three-month program includes a four-month membership and access to working space at 1871. The program’s curriculum will emphasize key topics such as enterprise sales cycles, vendor management, information security, and regulatory compliance. Participating startups also will benefit from pitch opportunities with venture capital investors.

“The time is now and BMO Harris Bank is the perfect partner given their strength as a financial institution and their long-held mission to provide opportunities for women to come up and be powerful,” Ziegler said.

Program participants also will be eligible to access PYROS, a 13-week series of workshops, seminars, and one-on-one mentoring sessions. Developed specifically for founders, the new initiative from 1871 provides startups with a path to scale their fintech solution or service.

Applications for WMN•FINtech will be accepted through May 11. Eligible companies must have a woman as founder or co-founder and be based in the U.S.

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, 1871 is among the top private business incubators in the world. Founded in 2012, the non-profit organization has 350 mentors available to its members, as well as 100+ partner corporations, venture funds, accelerators, and educational institutions. More than 650 of 1871’s alumni companies are active; they have raised more than $1.5 billion in follow-on capital combined.

Santander Takes Majority Stake in Ebury

By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on April 29, 2020
Categories: Daily news

Spain-based multinational bank Banco Santander announced today it has acquired a 50.1% stake in Ebury, an international payments, FX, and cash management firm.

Santander invested $435 million (£350 million) in the deal, which was first announced in November of last year. The bank plans to use Ebury to provide small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) with global finance tools to expand internationally. In fact, Santander is using $87 million (£70 million) of its total investment in Ebury to boost the company’s international expansion efforts.

The investment will help support Santander’s Global Trade Services business, which helps SMBs access international markets through trade finance, supply chain, payments, and foreign exchange.

“The investment in Ebury is a significant strategic milestone for the bank, allowing us to boost our capabilities in an exciting market with high growth potential,” said Sergio Rial, Chairman of Santander Brazil and Chairman of Ebury. “This new acquisition will provide us with the capabilities to further increase the Global Trade Services business with a new world-class platform with which we expect a significant return on investment in the coming years.”

Headquartered in the U.K., Ebury currently operates in 17 countries and 140 currencies. With Santander’s help, the company plans to expand into additional markets in Latin America and Asia.

Facilitating this move, Santander will offer Ebury the opportunity to expand its client base. Ebury will have access to Santander’s international network of more than four million SMB’s across the globe, 200,000 of which operate across international borders.

Ebury’s current client base includes 43,000+ SMBs. The company has increased its revenues by an average of 50% per year over the past three years and in its last reporting period boosted revenues by over 60%.

“In just over ten years, Ebury has grown from a small fintech company to a business with over 1,000 employees,” said Ebury Co-Founders Juan Lobato and Salvador Garcia. “Now, thanks to the support of Santander, we will be able to expand the business even more internationally and enter new markets.”

With $1.14 trillion (EUR 1.05 trillion) in assets under management and 145 million customers, Banco Santander operates 12,000 branches and has 200,000 employees. Last year, the bank made a profit of almost $8 billion (EUR 8.3 billion), an increase of 2% compared to the previous year.