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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Raisin is launching in Poland today, a new geography for the Germany-based fintech.
Raisin will offer Polish users access to savings products at its network of European banks.
HoistSpar is the first bank to join Raisin’s Polish platform.
Germany-based savings and investment product marketplace Raisin announced today it is launching in Poland. The company will leverage its cross-border savings technology and online marketplace to help Polish savers benefit from its network of European banks.
“Raisin’s platform in Poland aims to enhance the competition within the savings sector of the economy by broadening choice and eliminating barriers to access good deals from across the European Economic Area, all in one place,” said Raisin CEO and Cofounder Tamaz Georgadze. “We aim to make deposits more accessible to regular people, leveraging the full value of the European deposit market and ultimately increasing their savings. We are excited to offer Polish consumers the opportunity to earn higher interest on their savings.”
Fueling today’s launch is an ongoing partnership between Raisin Bank of Frankfurt and the pan-European fintech Raisin. The partnership takes advantage of Raisin’s marketplace approach, which offers a range of deposit products to help customers save money by offering them more choices and the ability to move their money freely amongst savings products.
Poland is an ideal location for Raisin’s geographical expansion because it is plagued with inflation. Even though the total value of household savings in Poland exceeded $500 billion (2 trillion zloty) for the first time, the country’s high inflation has limited the actual value of those investments.
HoistSpar is the first bank to join Raisin’s Polish platform. Headquartered in Sweden, the bank offers deposit accounts in its home country, Germany, Poland, and the U.K. At launch, new customers can benefit from fixed-term deposit products that pay up to 5.80%.
Raisin was founded in 2012 and built Raisin DS, a group formed by a merger of fintechs companies, in 2019. Raisin Deposit Solutions was launched in 2021.
With $305 million, Raisin currently serves over one million customers with its savings, investment, and pension products. Earlier this fall, Raisin surpassed $55 billion (€50 billion) in assets under administration and announced it has generated over $1.01 billion (€1 billion) in interest for its customers worldwide.
While not as headline-grabbing as the AI craze, the speed with fintechs, banks, and financial services companies have embraced environmental sustainability may be one of the underrated stories of 2023. This is true for both “green financing” which supports the funding of climate-supporting initiatives as well as “green fintech” which involves the development of products that enable sustainable finance and eco-investing.
In 2023 alone, we have seen companies like ClimateTrade, Cloverly, Connect Earth, and GreenPortfolio demo their climate-conscious technologies on the Finovate stage. These companies shared innovations such as blockchain-based climate and carbon credit marketplaces, carbon tracking API technology, and climate impact scoring for investments. And before these companies were firms like Energy Shares in 2022 and ecolytiq in 2021 that introduced equity crowdfunding for utility-scale renewable energy projects and environmental impact data for payment transactions to Finovate audiences.
But are we making the most out of the current moment? A recent blog post by fintech observer and author Chris Skinner references a relevant column by James Vaccaro, Director of Corporate Strategy at Triodos Bank. Vaccaro took a critical look at present-day efforts by banks and other financial institutions to adopt more climate-friendly policies. His conclusion was that current efforts such as decarbonization are laudable, but often suffer from poor management.
Yes, there is some subterfuge and greenwashing going on, but many initiatives do have authentic intentions – they’re just not working optimally and need to be redesigned and upgraded.
Also, the recurrent phenomenon of there not being enough finance for green projects, but finance not having enough green projects to invest in, suggests that we’re not just dealing with a funding gap. There are systemic barriers at play and these need to be addressed with innovative solutions to unblock flows of finance.
Vaccaro notes that some solutions, such as carbon tracking calculators, have not turned out to be the killer sustainability apps that many hoped they would be. Nevertheless, he clearly sees a need for further investment in both green fintech and green-friendly finance – to use our previous taxonomy. He cites approvingly offerings like social impact bonds. He also is helping the Climate Safe Lending Network launch its Climate Finance Catalyst Contest to develop financial solutions to support the decarbonization of the financial industry.
Regulators are paying attention to the problem. In their report on environmentally sustainable finance, the International Money Fund, the World Bank, and the OECD “highlight(ed) the need for scaling up private finance to support the transition to net zero.” That aside, the report noted two, potentially related, challenges that are worth noting. These were the lack of frameworks and scoring methodologies (particularly in developing economies) and market fragmentation.
These issues are not new to financial services. And while there is much work to be done, these kinds of challenges are being effectively tackled in many areas of fintech and financial services – from payments to credit risk and lending. Often, as is the case with sustainable finance, enabling technologies such as blockchain, machine learning, and AI are driving factors enabling us to leverage data in new ways. This bodes well for the potential to make sustainable finance possible, and especially where it is needed most.
Taulia is launching a virtual payment card solution for its users.
The company is partnering with Mastercard for the new offering, which will be integrated across major ERP solutions.
Degussa Bank and HSBC are piloting the launch.
Supply chain finance company Taulia is creating another payment option for its users this month. The California-based company is launching a virtual payment card in partnership with Mastercard and has integrated the new tool across major ERP solutions.
Taulia clients will be able to generate virtual cards through Mastercard upon request, which will save time and enable businesses to offer a better customer experience to their employees. In turn, the business itself will have more options to pay suppliers and control employee spending. Even suppliers will benefit, as they will see improved cash flow and better payments visibility.
The virtual payment card solution offers a unique, “bring your own bank” feature that allows Taulia clients to deploy virtual cards and extend the benefits already offered by their existing banks. This convenience comes thanks to Mastercard’s virtual card platform, which connects to more than 80 banks across the globe. Degussa Bank and HSBC are piloting Taulia’s launch.
“We’re pleased to be embracing innovation through our partnerships with Taulia and Mastercard, which will now provide our clients with an integrated virtual card payment solution within the Taulia platform,” said HSBC Global Head of Commercial Cards Product Management Arati Kurien. “Embedding HSBC’s financial services into the systems that our clients use day to day is a key focus for us.”
Taulia was founded in 2009 to help companies make use of cash tied up in their payables, receivables, and inventory. Taulia maintains a network of 3+ million businesses to fuel its clients with more working capital, support their suppliers with early payment, and help them build sustainable supply chains. Taulia processes more than $500 billion each year for its clients, which include Airbus, AstraZeneca, and Nissan.
In the coming years, we’re likely to see more of this embedded approach to supply chain financing. Fintechs will likely explore integrating supply chain financing tools into existing business solutions, as Taulia is doing within ERP solutions. We can also expect the inverse, as well, as fintechs embed other financial services, such as insurance, directly into existing supply chain platforms.
Taulia was acquired by SAP in 2022 for an undisclosed amount. Cedric Bru is CEO.
Peloton did not disclose the names of the investors. The company did say that members of the investing team have joined Peloton Technologies’ advisory board. The seed funding comes four months after the company secured $1.5 million (CAD $2 million) from the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada (PacifiCan). The funding from PacifiCan was the second investment Peloton received from the agency. The company picked up CAD $500,000 in funding from PacifiCan’s Business Scale Up and Productivity (BSP) program in 2022 ($367k in today’s dollars).
“We’re thrilled with the response from the Private Investor community,” Peloton Technologies Executive Chair of the Board John MacKinlay said. “We have a world-class group of investors with deep background in payments, banking, risk management, compliance, accounting, IT architecture, and securities law.” MacKinlay added that the funding will also help Peloton Technologies execute its acquisition strategy; last month, Peloton announced the acquisition of KIS Payments, an ISO (Independent Sales Organization). MacKinlay also noted that this week’s fundraising was a “precursor” to a “larger capital raise” slated for the first half of 2024.
“We’ve spent a lot of time creating the most comprehensive solution for businesses and now it’s time to scale,” CEO Craig Attiwill said when the company acquired KIS Payments in October.
Founded in 2011, Peloton Technologies helps small and medium-sized businesses in Canada process payments, execute fund transfers, exchange currencies, and store payment data. Its platform also supports the integration of multiple payment methods across multiple financial institutions. Peloton’s proprietary technology ensures the secure storage of payment data, document management, email/SMS notifications, and scheduling, as well as providing a sophisticated rules engine.
How will disruptive technologies like Generative AI change the financial services landscape. How will these technologies impact our ability to expand financial wellness and promote financial inclusion?
The rise of disruptive technologies has created new opportunities for banks and financial services companies to bring new and better services to consumers and businesses. Here’s a look at what our fintech experts told us this year at FinovateFall about how disruptive technology will shape the future of finance.
This year at FinovateFall we heard from fintech analysts and financial services professionals on what financial institutions can and should do in order to bring better financial services to more individuals, families, communities, and businesses. Here’s a brief Streamly Snaphot sharing what our experts had to say.
Join Finovate VP and host of the Finovate Podcast Greg Palmer as he talks with the entrepreneurs whose innovative companies took home top honors at FinovateFall 2023 in New York this year.
From new tools for credit unions members to embedded micro life insurance solutions to strategies to help FIs better engage mortgage-holders, the Finovate Podcast is a great way to keep up with the trends driving fintech today.
Podcast host Greg Palmer catches up with Rachel Lauren of Debbie (demo video) to talk about consumer debt reduction and the credit union ecosystem. EP 193.
Greg Palmer chats with Alex Matjanec of Wysh(demo video) about micro life insurance, customer retention, and financial inclusion. EP 192.
Greg Palmer sits down with Chase Neinken of Chimney (demo video) to discuss strategies for productively engaging your mortgage-holding customers. EP 190.
Bold Commerce will offer its merchant clients a pay by bank solution, thanks to a partnership with open banking innovator Link Money.
When consumers pay using their bank account, merchants avoid credit card processing fees and experience reduced fraud.
There has been an uptick in pay by bank activity in fintech in recent months, with J.P. Morgan and Adyen both announcing plans to offer the new payment method.
Ecommerce checkout innovator Bold Commerceannounced recently it is offering its merchant clients a new way to pay. The Canada-based company has tapped open banking technology company Link Money to help its merchant clients offer more payment options in the checkout experience for their end customers.
Specifically, merchants using Bold Commerce’s checkout tools can take advantage of Link Money’s Pay by Bank solution, which offers consumers an alternative to credit card payments and helps businesses reduce payment processing fees, credit card fraud, and provides guaranteed funds at checkout.
“Every shopper has their preferred payment method among the wide range of options available to them—from Buy Now, Pay Later to digital wallets, credit cards, and account-to-account payments—and they won’t hesitate to leave a product behind if their preferred method isn’t available,” said Bold Commerce CEO Peter Karpas. “It’s why we’re hyperfocused on diversifying the payment options we offer to brands, so they can personalize checkout for individual shoppers down to payment. Adding Link Money’s Pay by Bank solution to our repertoire rounds out these offerings.”
To keep the user experience simple, Link Money’s Pay by Bank leverages open banking, connecting to 3,400 banks across the U.S. Once the shopper selects and signs into their bank, they choose the account they’d like to use for the purchase and initiate the payment.
Link Money, also known as Link Financial Technologies, was founded in 2021. In addition to offering Pay by Bank, the California-based company also offers AccountVerify a verification solution to help merchants ensure that their customers are connecting real bank accounts. The company has raised $30 million and recently named Eric Shoykhet CEO.
With its potential to negate the fees and fraud that come with credit card payments, pay by bank has seen an uptick in popularity lately. Last month, J.P. Morgan disclosed it was leveraging Mastercard to provide billers with the ability to allow their customers to pay bills directly from their bank account. Days after that announcement, Adyen unveiled that it is teaming up with Plaid to launch its pay by bank services in North America early next year.
What are the biggest challenges facing banks when it comes to modernization and digital transformation? We checked in with Charbel Safadi, President, Modernization and Transformation, with Zafin, to hear his thoughts on what banks and other financial institutions are doing to future-proof their businesses and better serve their customers.
Zafin made its Finovate debut in 2017 at FinovateFall. The company offers a cloud-based product and pricing platform that simplifies core modernization for the world’s biggest banks. Zafin’s platform enables business teams to collaborate in the design and management of pricing, products, and packages. At the same time, the platform empowers technology teams to streamline core banking systems.
Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and founded in 2002, Zafin includes Wells Fargo, HSBC, and CIBC among its customers.
When you look at the current landscape for banks, what is their biggest technological challenge right now?
Charbel Safadi: The predominant technological challenge facing banks in the current landscape is the accumulation of legacy technology platforms that impede adaptability and innovation. These platforms, built over several decades, create a significant tech debt, hindering banks from promptly responding to changing market demands. This stands in contrast to agile fintech startups, unburdened by such legacy systems.
For banks, the challenge lies in modernizing these deeply entrenched platforms to enable transformative experiences and stay competitive in the rapidly evolving financial landscape. Despite significant time and financial investments, the traditional “rip and replace” approach has proven unsuccessful. This tech debt, rather than a lack of inherent competitiveness, is the primary obstacle for banks in delivering compelling value propositions, necessitating a forward-looking, progressive modernization strategy.
You just recently joined Zafin and are part of the company’s new transformation and modernization division. Tell us about why you joined the company and what this new division is all about.
Safadi: Zafin’s mission is to empower banks in reshaping their business models and updating technology platforms. As a leader in our organization, my role is to align our vision with clients’ business goals, fostering a cohesive team that mirrors banks’ transformation strategies. With a background in financial services consulting and experience with global banks, I recognize the market’s strong focus for the next decade and Zafin’s potential impact.
Being part of Zafin’s journey excites me, given its pivotal role in contributing to clients’ transformation agendas. Zafin’s strategic position emphasizes technology and business platforms, distinguishing it in the market. This allows us to provide significant value, aiding clients in kickstarting technology modernization while transforming their business models.
I am confident in our ability to guide clients through this journey, making a substantial impact and offering the necessary tools for success. Zafin’s forward-thinking strategy, coupled with our cohesive team and inclusive culture, solidified my decision to be part of this transformative organization.
Tell us about the launch of Zafin Studio. What challenge will it help Zafin customers resolve?
Safadi:Zafin Studio represents a significant advancement in the modernization of technology platforms, specifically addressing the challenge of crafting forward-looking propositions tailored to each client’s unique values and needs. Unlike existing solutions in the market, Zafin Studio adopts a comprehensive approach to banking propositions. Leveraging the Product and Pricing Index (PPI) tool, it rapidly gathers, filters, and segments data and insights for analysis from leading global banks, bridging a crucial market gap. This empowers various stakeholders within a bank, from business users to product managers and department heads.
Our goal is to equip them with the tools to comprehend market dynamics, enabling swift research on top banks worldwide and insights into their product designs and rate structures. The collected information is entirely external and does not involve customer data. Through Product Explorer, Zafin Studio unravels the intricacies of product offerings, merging external market research with an internal product explorer. The drag-and-drop feature of Proposition Canvas in turn empowers banks to seamlessly design and implement cutting-edge functionalities. Essentially, Zafin Studio acts as a governing methodology and framework, revolutionizing banks’ transformation approaches. We eagerly anticipate our clients utilizing Zafin Studio to elevate co-created value propositions to new heights.
Zafin is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. What are some of the top concerns for Canadian banks that might differ from those of banks in the U.S., the U.K., or Europe?
Safadi: In Canada, the banking landscape differs significantly from the U.S., U.K. and Europe due to population size and the number of institutions. Canadian banks are primarily concerned with population dynamics, competition, and the regulatory framework. The evolving regulatory landscape indicates that open banking is on the horizon in Canada. This, combined with the rise of innovative fintech firms free from legacy technology constraints, compels banks to prepare for the coming years.
While fintech companies lack the technological burdens of traditional institutions, they also lack the established customer base of incumbents. To capitalize on this, banks must pivot towards a more horizontally aligned approach to product development and proposition modeling. This involves adopting a holistic view of the Canadian customer, encompassing their entire financial journey and value chain. By consolidating data from diverse systems, including mortgages, lending, and deposits, banks can craft compelling value propositions that genuinely resonate with consumers. Prioritizing strong relationships over sheer customer volume is crucial. This means tailoring pricing, offers, and incentives to match the customer’s entire banking journey. This forward-thinking approach ensures sustained delivery of substantial value and the preservation of loyalty within the existing client base, thereby upholding a competitive edge rooted in customer trust.
Speaking of international activity, Zafin recently announced a new operational center in Dubai and the upcoming release of various AI-based solutions for the Middle Eastern market. Tell us about some of the top trends in fintech in the Middle East?
Safadi: Zafin is making significant investments in Generative AI, with Zafin Copilot serving as a central component in our technology portfolio. This tool is pivotal for both external client interactions and internal team processes. We’ve dedicated significant efforts to explore how AI can enhance product and pricing modeling, effectively harnessing continuously generated data, including customer details, transactions, and relationship data. We’ve made it a priority to equip our clients with the technological capabilities needed for full access to the rich data set within our platform.
Globally, AI forms a fundamental part of our strategy, with a notable emphasis on the Middle Eastern marketplace. This region’s substantial investments in AI makes it an ideal ground to explore dynamic pricing, especially in comparison to markets with stricter pricing regulations.
Our core principles of trust, transparency, and fairness in banking guide all AI development initiatives. We ensure strict adherence to regulatory frameworks across global markets. AI is viewed as an intrinsic element of our entire platform, offering benefits to our customers, end consumers, and internal teams while aligning with our commitment to ethical and regulatory standards.
What trends in fintech and financial services are currently being underestimated in terms of their potential impact in the next few years?
Safadi: Many organizations are considering the adoption of Generative AI technologies. The central question revolves around how AI can effectively be utilized to reassess and improve product design, customizing offerings for each individual. This transition not only poses a challenge but also presents an opportunity. AI has the potential to centralize and grant access to the everyday data encountered by most organizations. The focus should now pivot towards creating dynamic product offerings that align with the unique value of each individual, taking into account the customer’s current life stage, priorities, and preferences.
In addition to well-explored areas like AI, another crucial emphasis lies in the design of the next-generation product architecture. Through global discussions and collaborations with banking clients, trailblazing organizations such as Zafin are actively shaping a horizontal model for the next generation of product architecture in financial institutions. This architecture should span the entire spectrum of banking, delivering a tailored and dynamic experience precisely meeting the customer’s needs at any given moment. Banks should persist in prioritizing depth and loyalty in customer relationships, recognizing their significance in the forthcoming years.
What can we expect from Zafin over the balance of 2023 and into 2024?
Safadi: Zafin is firmly dedicated to executing its strategy, aiming to provide substantial value to our clients. This dedication empowers them to not only modernize their technology platforms but also to transform their business models. Our intense focus revolves around delivering the essential technology, capabilities, and skills required for both these endeavors. Through robust partnerships within our deep ecosystem, our goal is to offer comprehensive customer modernization journeys.
We strive to spare our clients from spending excessive time — potentially three to four years or even longer — struggling to overhaul their technology landscape without having the capacity to contemplate new product architectures and business models. Everything we undertake is geared towards facilitating a low-risk approach to modernize their technology platforms, unlocking the potential to construct next-generation product architectures promptly.
Simultaneously, we remain committed to upholding trust, transparency, and fairness in how our clients deliver products and services to their client base.
What are the opportunities and challenges of AI in the fraud prevention and identity verification space? We caught up with Heidi Hunter, Chief Product Officer for IDology, a GBG company, to find out.
IDology delivers a comprehensive suite of identity verification, AML/KYC, and fraud management solutions to help businesses drive revenue, deter fraud, and maintain compliance. Founded in 2003, IDology made its Finovate debut in 2012. GBG acquired the company in 2019.
Ms. Hunter joined GBG Americas in 2011 and has worked in both product innovation and customer success roles during her career with the company. She brings more than 13 years’ experience in supporting customers and helping them with their business needs through product innovation, support, and implementation roles.
Currently, Ms. Hunter is responsible for driving the company’s product roadmap and bringing new innovations to the identity verification market through strategic product development.
AI has brought on challenges and opportunities when it comes to fraud and financial crime. What are the principal challenges financial institutions are facing?
Heidi Hunter: There are four main areas of concern: cybersecurity and fraud, biased models, human oversight, and regulatory compliance.
Deloitte has written on the growing concern of AI as a cybersecurity and fraud threat, noting that 51% of executives interviewed believe that the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of AI are a major concern. One issue is the problem of more and better fake documents. AI will simplify creation of passports, driver’s licenses, and ID cards that are virtually indistinguishable from genuine ones. Another issue here is increased synthetic identity fraud. Generative AI is a productivity tool for fraudsters, creating highly realistic synthetic identities at scale.
Additionally, there is more effective phishing and social engineering. A recent study of 1,000 decision makers found 37% had experienced deepfake voice fraud. And Generative AI is used to fuel a surge in phishing tactics.
You also mentioned biased models, human oversight, and compliance.
Hunter: The use of AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms have come under scrutiny with concerns over data bias, transparency, and accountability. With regard to human oversight, 88% of consumers reported that they would discontinue a helpful personalization service if they didn’t understand how their data would be managed.
Lack of human oversight is also a regulatory concern. AI often lacks transparency, leaving businesses exposed when they must explain their decisioning, which has brought expectations of future regulation. AI-generated deepfakes are moving fast and policymakers can’t keep up.
Can the same technology that’s enabling fraudsters also enable FIs to thwart them?
Hunter: Yes, especially when AI is paired with human intelligence. AI benefits from experts charged with overseeing incoming and outgoing data. A trained fraud analyst accompanying AI-based solutions can catch new and established fraud trends. This includes novel threats that AI solutions on their own may miss.
From a compliance perspective, this means businesses can offer a more transparent solution and manage potential bias. Supervised AI can eliminate the need to manually verify an ID, and help provide the explanation needed for compliance and regulatory requirements.
Automation plays a major role in AI. So does human oversight. Can you talk about the relationship between AI and automation?
Hunter: Automation is typically rule-based and follows predetermined instructions, while AI can learn from data and make decisions based on that data. In other words, automation software operates on a set of predefined rules, while AI can make predictions and decisions based on the data it is presented with. The ‘predictions’ aspect of AI- and ML-based tech is where human supervision plays such an important role.
What is the proper balance between human oversight and AI? What role do humans have in an increasingly AI-powered world?
Hunter: Like with any tool, human-supervised AI is great when it’s one part of a larger identity verification (IDV) strategy.
Humans have a role at every ‘stage’ of AI use or implementation: in development, in terms of what data is being used to train a model; during deployment, where an AI-based tool is used and to what degree; and when it comes to holding AI-based tools accountable. This means analyzing a given output and what decisions a FI makes based on that output.
For identity verification specifically, how has human-supervised AI helped solve problems?
Hunter: Consumers also set the bar high for seamless interactions. For example, 37% of consumers abandoned a digital onboarding process because it was too time-consuming. Overcoming this challenge requires a comprehensive strategy. Human-supervised AI can play a critical role in the process, as it can quickly scrutinize vast volumes of digital data to uncover patterns of suspicious activity while also providing insight and transparency into how decisions are made.
Are businesses embracing human-supervised AI? What hurdles remain to broader adoption?
Hunter: Yes, because while there is a lot of excitement around what AI can do, several businesses and people in the academic community believe AI isn’t ready to make unsupervised decisions. As mentioned earlier, businesses show concern over AI operating on its own. Concerns range from ethical questions, to cybersecurity and fraud risks, to making a bad business decision based on AI. On a positive note, businesses are becoming more aware of benefits of supervised learning models.
Crastorehill is acquiring two Germany-based open banking players, ndgit and Qwist.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Crastorehill has appointed Matt Colebourne as CEO.
Fintech Capital-owned Crastorehillannounced this week it has acquired two German open banking players, ndgit and Qwist (formerly known as finleap). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Warsaw-based Crastorehill builds data analytics products for financial services. The company’s strategy hinges on acquiring other open banking providers to help enhance its product suite, geographical coverage, as well as its big data and artificial intelligence capabilities.
Crastorehill is making the acquisition in anticipation of the European Union’s pending PSD3 regulation. PSD3 is an advancement of PSD2 and is expected to accelerate the proliferation of open banking based products.
As part of today’s announcement, Crastorehill unveiled it has appointed Matt Colebourne as CEO. Colebourne is Chair of ecommerce technology company Visii and former CEO of Searchmetrics.
“Open standards, in almost any technological or regulated area, create the opportunity to solve previously insoluble problems, to do things faster, more easily and more cheaply,” said Colebourne. “Much as the internet ushered in a previously inconceivable plethora of new ways to interact, transact and research, the rise of open banking will enable new ways to assess risk, verify identity, understand macro-economic behaviour and enable faster, easier interaction for consumers. I’m excited to join Crastorehill at a time when we have the opportunity to lead this transformation and grow.”
FinovateEurope 2024 takes place at the InterContinental O2 London over February 27 and 28.
Those who’ve been to a Finovate know the demos are unique. They are not pitches or presentations. They are seven-minute technology showcases without use of slides, videos, and mockups. They do not happen in the expo or on a stream stage. They are on the main stage during the general session without competing content. This approach delivers the highest ROI to demoers and ensures all attendees can experience the technology and discuss next steps.
There’s a competitive application process to demo at FinovateEurope next February, and the final early-bird deadline is Friday, November 24. When companies apply by this date and are selected, they receive a £1,000 to 2,000 discount on the demo fee.
When reviewing submissions and curating a demo lineup, the Finovate team looks for several things: Technology from across banking and financial services industry; companies ranging in age, size, culture, and geo footprint; recent launches or significant advancements in existing technology; partnership and other media announcements; and, of course, innovation and the competitive landscape.
For selected companies, the demo opportunity at FinovateEurope includes the 7-minutes on stage, a plug and play stand in the expo area over both event days, speaker tickets, lead gen scanning and reports, coaching calls with Finovate’s host and resident expert, and marketing and media exposure.
To move forward, review the online demo details, then submit the confidential application. Applications will be accepted after November 24 but will not receive the early-bird discount.
For companies with female founders, person-of-color founders, or a focus on ESG, check out our demo scholarship program.
