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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.
SAVVI AI is the fastest way for product and data teams to build and deploy AI apps in minutes with their patented Agile AI platform – no data scientists, pre-existing data, or custom infrastructure required.
Features
Easy-to-use: No need for data science, or AI expertise
Fast to Value: Complete end-to-end solution – launch in days
Cold Start AI: Start AI use cases without any historical pre-existing data
Why it’s great
SAVVI’s Agile AI platform is the fastest and easiest way to add the power of machine learning automation to a company’s decision trees, products and workflows – teams can start with just a spreadsheet.
Presenters
Maya Mikhailov, CEO & Co-Founder Mikhailov’s previous company was acquired by Synchrony, where she led a division building AI products and services. She’s a speaker on AI and former NYU professor. LinkedIn
Alex Muller, CPO & Co-Founder Muller is the former CEO at GPShopper (acquired by Synchrony) and was CPO at Synchrony in AI and EIR. He holds dual masters from CMU in Engineering and a MBA and 5 patents. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.
Merlin Investor offers a multi-asset educational, strategizing and tracking tool complementary to any trading platform and designed for any kind of retail investor.
Features
Access a variety of market data from different sources all in one place
Create, analyze, compare and backtest an infinite set of investment strategies
Track portfolio performance
Why it’s great
The Merlin Investor platform is a white-label solution helping financial institutions supercharge their trading platforms by going beyond the sole execution of trades and offering a full investment experience all in one place.
Presenter
Guido Petrelli, CEO Before starting Merlin Investor, Petrelli was the CFO and COO of a multinational company operating in the automotive sector for more than a decade. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.
Plinqit’sHigh Yield Savings is a white-label digital savings product that generates high-growth deposits with minimal investment, giving banks a turnkey way to launch a separate, digital-only brand.
Features
Generates deposits
Offers a cost-effective way to launch a digital-only brand
Includes everything needed: Account opening, KYC, money movement, digital banking, and more
Why it’s great
High Yield Savings by Plinqit offers banks high-growth deposits on a highly scalable platform with low operating costs.
Presenters
Kathleen Craig, Founder & CEO A fintech expert with a banking background, Craig is Founder and CEO of Plinqit, a venture-backed company helping banks grow deposits and expand into new markets. LinkedIn
Kirsten Longnecker, SVP of Marketing An award-winning fintech marketing executive with 20 years of experience in digital marketing, communications and branding, Longnecker is Plinqit’s Senior Vice President of Marketing. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.
AutoCloud radically accelerates and de-risks digital transformation. It builds secure cloud workloads orders of magnitude faster, cheaper, and easier than is possible today, utilizing low-code and AI automation.
Features
99% fewer security breaches
80% faster time to market
26% less cloud spending
Why it’s great
Create any cloud system on any cloud provider in minutes using AI and low-code automation, all with the company’s current team.
Presenters
Tyson Kunovsky, CEO Kunovsky brings with him 20 years of experience in cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity, and financial services. LinkedIn
Evelyn LaTour, CPO LaTour oversees product strategy, user research, and design. She has two decades of experience in finance and technology. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.
Telesign provides continuous trust to leading global enterprises by connecting, protecting, and defending their digital identities.
Features
Telesign’s brand new intelligence demonstration tool clearly depicts the risk inherent to onboarding and how to mitigate that risk through careful phone number analysis and insight.
Presenter
Michael Lappin, Sr. Director, Solutions Engineering Lappin has been a part of the security/cybersecurity, incident response/forensic investigation, and security software space for more than 20 years. LinkedIn
The new tool offers customers real-time access to ACH debits made on the Sila platform.
Instant Settlement works with all ACH transactions on the Sila platform and doesn’t require banks to adopt a particular payment rail.
Banking and payment infrastructure-as-a-service company Sila is launching a new product called Instant Settlement this week. The solution offers customers real-time access to ACH debits made with the Sila platform.
As its name suggests, Sila’s new tool offers companies access to funds instantly, without needing to wait the traditional two-to-five day time period of the ACH settlement to clear. Without the need to wait for funds to clear, companies no longer need to pre-fund transactions or rely on their own capital.
With Instant Settlement, Sila pre-funds the consumer’s digital wallet within a matter of seconds. The company’s approach works with all ACH transactions on the Sila platform because it doesn’t rely on any particular payment rail.
“With Instant Settlement, we are revolutionizing the way businesses and individuals access and manage their funds,” said Sila Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer Shamir Karkal. “We understand the importance of transaction speed in today’s fast-paced business landscape, and by offering Instant Settlement, we are providing our customers with a competitive advantage that sets them apart in their respective industries.”
Sila notes that Instant Settlement works best in situations such as payroll processing, back-office money movements, B2B transactions, and physical cash transactions where ACH is preferred, but return risks are low. That’s because it requires customers to maintain sufficient funds in a reserve wallet to cover potential return risks.
The timing of today’s release is notable as it comes shortly after the launch of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s launch of FedNow real-time payments system. Sila differentiates itself from FedNow and other real-time payments companies such as RTP because it doesn’t require banks to adopt a specific rail. “While everyone is rushing to RTP (65% coverage) and FedNow both of those instant payment systems are limited by the number of banks that adopt a particular instant payment rail while Sila’s Instant Settlement doesn’t rely on banks to adopt anything and instead, it is applicable to 100% of ACH transactions on its platform,” the company explained.
Sila was founded in 2018 by Karkal, who was one of the entrepreneurs who co-founded challenger bank Simple in 2009. The Oregon-based company has gone on to raise $20.7 million.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced a number of new fintech initiatives this week. Among the more interesting was a plan to bring AI-powered, conversational payments to the country’s UPI (Unified Payments Interface) system.
The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) launched the platform in 2016. Today, UPI has more than 300 million monthly active users in India. There are also 500 million merchants who use the platform to accept payments. With UPI, users can link multiple bank accounts to a single mobile app, and then make real-time, P2P transactions via mobile device or smartphone. Analysts expect daily transaction volume on UPI to reach one billion by 2026-2027.
The proposal would enable users to initiate payments from within both chat and messaging apps. “As Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly integrated into the digital economy, conversational instructions hold immense potential in enhancing ease of use, and consequently reach, of the UPI system,” the RBI press release read. “It is, therefore, proposed to launch an innovative payment mode viz., ‘Conversational Payments’ on UPI, that will enable users to engage in a conversation with an AI-powered system to initiate and complete transactions in a safe and secure environment.”
Conversational Payments will be available initially in Hindi and English, with other Indian languages to be added. The technology will be available via smartphones and feature phone-based UPI channels, which the Reserve Bank of India believes will lead to broader adoption and further financial inclusion. To this end, the RBI has also proposed to bring Near Field Communications (NFC) technology to its UPI-Lite on-device wallet. Launched last fall, UPI-Lite is designed to facilitate small value transactions and now processes more than ten million transactions a month.
An investment of $50 million has given Indian debt collection software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform Credgenics a valuation of $340 million. Accel, Westbridge Capital, Tanglin Ventures, Beams Fintech Fund, and other strategic investors participated in the Series B round.
Company co-founder and CEO Rishabh Goel said that the capital would do more than just help the firm expand into new markets. “This funding not only accelerates our growth, but also enables us to make a meaningful impact on the economic landscape of countries, unlocking new opportunities for financial well-being,” Goel said.
Founded in 2019, Credgenics currently serves more than 100 private banks, non-bank financial companies, fintechs, and asset reconstruction companies. The company’s debt resolution platform provides a suite of solutions including digital collections, collections analytics, litigation management, agent performance management, and a field collections mobile app. The technology leverages AI-driven intelligent automation and machine learning to bring greater efficiency to the collections process.
Credgenics handles 11 million retail loan accounts and touched an overall loan book worth $60 billion in fiscal year 2023. The company became operationally profitable this spring. This summer, Credegnics announced a partnership with Indonesia-based lender Investree. The company also was recognized as the Best Selling Loan Collections Platform in IBS Intelligence India Sales League Table for the second year in a row.
Minister of State for Corporate Affairs (independent charge) Rao Inderjit Singh provided the report to Parliament as part of the Startup India initiative. Launched by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in 2016, this initiative establishes the criteria that confers recognition by the Department. These factors include data of incorporation, as well as revenue and profit benchmarks.
Singh pointed to the “Fintech Entity Framework” as an example of one of the actions taken by the government – in this case the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) – to promote the country’s fintech startup ecosystem. This framework includes a comprehensive scheme of grants for startups, sandboxes, proof-of-concepts (PoC), accelerators, and more.
Singh also credited the government for the success of an initiative which streamlined beneficiary account opening and direct benefit transfers, and improved access to multiple financial services applications. The initiative is called the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), meaning “The Prime Minister’s Public Finance Scheme,” and it set a new world record for account openings upon its launch in 2014. This spring, the initiative reached a major milestone of more than $28 billion (₹2 lakh crore) in deposits.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Alkami launched a new Engagement Artificial Intelligence (AI) Predictive Model.
The new model helps financial institutions identify accountholders whose behaviors are indicative of retention and account growth.
The Engagement AI Model leverages Alkami’s Key Lifestyle Indicators (KLIs) as well as its AI Predictive Modeling technology.
Everyone knows that it is easier (and less expensive) to maintain an existing customer than it is to acquire a new one. So Alkami, which launched a new AI model to help banks retain customers, is likely to garner a lot of attention.
The cloud-based digital banking solutions provider unveiled its Engagement Artificial Intelligence (AI) Predictive Model this week to tackle customer attrition. The solution not only identifies accountholders whose behaviors are indicative of retention and account growth, but it also flags customers who may be at risk of leaving.
The new predictive model leverages Alkami’s Key Lifestyle Indicators (KLIs) as well as its AI Predictive Modeling solution that uses data to identify accountholders’ shifts in spend categories and recognize their financial patterns.
“When we looked at the full spectrum of attrition scoring,” explained Alkami Director of Product Management Mark Leher, “our research showed that attrition is significantly lower among highly engaged account holders, so we developed a model that not only identifies these highly engaged account holders but also layers in Alkami’s KLIs—labels describing the type of transaction or behavior a customer or member engages in—to best predict which behaviors drive incremental engagement.”
The company recently conducted research that found that accountholders who score the highest risk for attrition are, on average, 15 times more likely to leave a financial institution than those who score as highly engaged.
When financial institutions use Alkami’s Engagement AI Model to identify the users that exhibit growth behavior, they can understand where to prioritize spend and what areas they should focus on to grow the customers’ engagement.
“Not only does this save on account acquisition costs, but it also empowers the financial institution to engage with those who are more likely to take action on a targeted campaign,” added Leher.
Alkami was founded in 2009 and went public in 2021. A year later, the company acquired competitor Segmint— and its KLI technology– for $135.5 million. Alkami is currently listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker ALKT with a market capitalization of $1.43 billion.
FinovateFall 2023 is one month away! Our annual autumn fintech showcase returns to New York City, September 11 through September 13, for three days of live fintech demos, insightful mainstage speakers, and hours of high-quality, professional networking. Book your ticket now and take advantage of big, early-bird savings.
To whet your appetite for our upcoming event, here’s a look at the keynote speakers who will address attendees on Day One of FinovateFall this year.
Devendra Kumar Sharma, President & Chief Operating Officer, Kore.ai
Sharma leads go-to-market functions, revenue growth, client success, strategy, and cross-functional collaboration as Kore.ai President and Chief Operating Officer. At FinovateFall, he will lead a Mastermind Keynote titled “How Generative and Conversational AI is Transforming Everyday Banking.”
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic, Author, I, Human: AI, Automation, and the Quest to Reclaim What Makes Us Unique
Chamorro-Premuzic will lead an Out of the Box Keynote address titled “ChatGPT, Generative AI & the Future for Humanity.” An international authority in people analytics, talent management, leadership development, and the Human-AI interface, he is the Chief Innovation Officer at Manpower Group.
Jody Bhagat, President of Americas, Personetics and Daniel Caplan, Director, Digital Money Management and Wealth Services, BMO Financial Group
Bhagat and Caplan will team up to deliver a Mastermind Keynote titled “Winning the Battle for Deposits.” Bhagat has deep operating experience in financial services, including managing direct channels, launching digital ventures, and leading digital transformation programs. Caplan is an experienced and agile product manager and strategist who builds winning products, experiences and strategies that deliver tangible business results.
David Porter, Managing Director, Genesys Financial Services and Sachin Tandon, Worldwide Banking Industry Strategist, AWS
Porter leads the Genesys Financial Services vertical team, having spent many years in wealth management, payments, and consumer banking at J.P. Morgan Chase. Tandon has more than 20 years of experience in financial services and consulting leadership roles at J.P. Morgan Chase, EY, Fidelity, and Accenture. Together, Porter and Tandon will provide a Mastermind Keynote titled “The Future of Customer and Employee Experience in Financial Services.”
Justin Kamerman, Chief Product Officer, and Sunil Madhu, founder and CEO, of Instnt
Kamerman has more than 20 years experience designing and building high performance distributed systems in the telecom, IPTV, identity verification, social media analytics, and IIOT industries. Founder and previously CEO and CTO of Socure, Madhu has more than 30 years of experience innovating in the identity and access management, security, governance, and risk and compliance markets. Kamerman and Madhu will team up to deliver a Mastermind Keynote titled “Zero Fraud Loss + Zero Marketing Spend = 50% More Growth.”
Greenlight Financial Technology unveiled its Greenlight Family Cash Mastercard this week.
The Greenlight Family Cash Mastercard helps teens build credit before they reach adulthood.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Greenlight has raised more than $550 million in funding. The company has a valuation of $2.3 billion.
Greenlight Financial Technologylaunched its Greenlight Family Cash Mastercard this week. The new card fosters financial literacy by helping teens build their credit before they reach adulthood.
Available with all of Greenlight’s subscription plans, the Greenlight Family Cash Card enables families to earn up to 3% cash back on all purchases. Parents can add their teen children as authorized users on the card, and teens can track their credit card balances using the Greenlight app. At the same time parents can establish spending limits and receive real-time purchase alerts to help them monitor card activity. The addition of the Greenlight Family Cash Card means that Greenlight’s in-app financial literacy game, Level Up, now features instruction on the responsible use of credit, as well.
Greenlight subscription plans start at $4.99 a month. Other plans are available that add features such as identity theft, purchase, and phone protection (Greenlight Max for $10 a month), as well as family location sharing and crash detection (Greenlight Infinity for $15 a month). The Greenlight Family Cash Card is issued by First National Bank of Omaha.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Greenlight co-founder and CEO Tim Sheehan highlighted the company’s 3% cashback, Level Up financial literacy game, and parental controls as a trifecta that trumps offerings from other credit cards – including those that cater to families and youth. “Nobody has all three of these features,” Sheehan said.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Greenlight was founded in 2014. The company has raised $550 million in funding, which includes a $260 million Series D round in 2021. This investment gave the fintech a valuation of $2.3 billion. The following year, Greenlight unveiled its Greenlight for Classroooms offering, a web-based financial literacy library. The library includes more than 100 animated videos, and a bank of thousands of vocabulary words and test questions. Additional features include quizzes, ideas for individual projects, discussion activities, and a teacher’s guide. Aligned with K-12 national standards, Greenlight for Classroom is available to schools, teachers, and students across the U.S. for free.
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.
Effectiv’s fraud and compliance automation platform for fintechs, mid-sized banks, and credit unions automates compliance needs while helping manage fraud with a best-in-class solution.
Features
Effectiv’s unified fraud, risk, and automated compliance solution provides an omni-channel approach to:
Frictionless account opening
Loan application processing
Real-time transaction monitoring
Why it’s great
Effectiv is the modular, centralized risk hub that gets businesses compliant and fraud-free from day one, with AI & ML models that adapt to their organizational needs.
Presenter
Ritesh Arora, COO & Co-Founder Before becoming Co-Founder of Effectiv, Arora led the Fraud Data Science team at PayPal. He has decades of experience in fraud, data science, and technology and an MS in Management and Statistics. LinkedIn
A look at the companies demoing at FinovateFall in New York on September 11 and 12. Register today and save your spot.
Savana unifies and orchestrates banks’ processes between the core, back-office, and digital channels to enable frictionless interactions between banks and their customers.
Features
Provides one experience for servicing customers across bank-assisted channels and products
Offers core-to-customer centralization and automation of processes
Leverages centralized processes via API for digital channels
Why it’s great
Savana enables banks to own business processes and channel experiences holistically, eliminate process silos on the back-end and the front-end, and launch or modernize quickly without risk.
Presenters
David Williams, CPO Williams leads the development and execution of Savana’s product strategy to bring value to banks and their customers. LinkedIn
Larry Edgar-Smith, SVP, Sales Engineering Edgar-Smith combines market intel with industry experience to help shape the strategic direction of Savana’s solutions. LinkedIn
