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Sezzle Revisits Plan to Publicly List in the U.S.

Sezzle Revisits Plan to Publicly List in the U.S.
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Daily news, Sezzle
  • Sezzle announced plans to publicly list on the Nasdaq by the end of September.
  • The company will continue to sell common stock on the Australian Stock Exchange.
  • The news comes two years after Sezzle’s original announcement of plans to publicly list in the U.S.

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) technology provider Sezzle announced on Monday it plans to list publicly in the U.S. on the Nasdaq, while continuing to sell common stock on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX).

The Minneapolis, Minnesota-based company originally listed on the ASX in 2019 using Chess Depositary Interests (CDIs), which are traded on the ASX to allow non-Australian companies to list their shares on the exchange. Prior to listing on the Nasdaq, Sezzle plans to remove the Foreign Ownership Restricted on United States Person Prohibited tag from the CDIs to allow participation from U.S. investors.

“A listing on the Nasdaq is a natural evolution for Sezzle given the company is already filing the necessary reports with the SEC,” said Sezzle Chairman and CEO Charlie Youakim. “Although we are not seeking to raise capital as part of the Nasdaq listing, we are excited to expand the universe of potential investors to the United States.”

Sezzle plans to list in the U.S. no later than the end of September 2023.

Avid fintech nerds may have a sense of déjà vu reading Sezzle’s headline today. In fact, it echoes a news post we published in 2021: Sezzle Plans to File for U.S. IPO. According to that release, “Plans for the public listing are still in early stages. Details, such as the timing, price, and use, have not been revealed.” Sezzle’s release today revisits the plan for a U.S. IPO, but with more concrete details.

Sezzle was founded in 2016 and the company’s growth ballooned alongside the increasing interest in BNPL in 2020. In turning its focus from growth to profitability, Sezzle has made significant cost-saving efforts, including exiting a handful of foreign markets and cutting 20% of its North American workforce. Last February, we reported that fellow BNPL player Zip planned to acquire Sezzle. The deal was terminated in July in light of macroeconomic and market conditions.

Photo by cottonbro studio

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4 Potential Impacts the SVB Fallout May Have on Banks

4 Potential Impacts the SVB Fallout May Have on Banks
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Thought Leadership

The fintech industry experienced quite a dramatic weekend of fast-breaking news regarding the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB). By now, you’ve likely heard that the Biden administration stepped in this morning to facilitate a move that will offer SVB’s 40,000 customers full access to all of their deposits.

Banks, startups, and even tangentially related businesses are breathing a collective sigh of relief this morning. However, the move does not bring the industry back to business-as-usual. Below are four potential implications of SVB’s misstep.

FDIC Deposit Insurance to Increase

Regulators are not calling today’s move a “bailout” because the funds being used to make SVB customers whole did not come from consumer taxpayer dollars. “All depositors of the institution will be made whole,” the FDIC said in a statement. “Any losses to the Deposit Insurance Fund to support uninsured depositors will be recovered by a special assessment on banks, as required by law.” This means that banks* will bear the responsibility to recoup these funds via increased FDIC insurance rates.

More (closer to) full reserve banks

We likely won’t see banks convert to full, 100% reserve banks (that is, banks that keep all customer reserves in cash). It is possible, however, that SVB’s failure may motivate banks to keep more consumer cash on-hand, operating closer to a full reserve bank than they previously were in order to mitigate risk. If this is the case, banks would have less funds to lend, making it difficult for consumers and businesses to get loans.

Increased opportunities

One of the first lessons taught in business school is that where there are challenges, there are opportunities. This is certainly the case here. HSBC picked up SVB’s U.K. unit for £1, and everyone from Elon Musk to JP Morgan and PNC are considering purchasing SVB’s U.S. arm. Additionally, businesses have cropped up marketing to former SVB clients, offering them working capital loans. Even Mr. Wonderful is in on the action.

Uncertainty reigns supreme

If you’ve read about SVB in the news today, it’s likely you also read about Signature Bank, which was shut down by New York state regulators on March 12, and Silvergate, which closed its doors on March 8. Combined, these events mark three U.S. bank failures in a single week. Though regulators have been quick to step in, the events have shaken investors and consumers alike.

*Interestingly enough, banks are indeed taxpayers– meaning that the responsibility for repayment technically does fall on taxpayers.

Photo by Tara Winstead

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Acquisition of Delaware’s Digital-First Fair Square Filling Consumer Credit Card Gap for Industry Leader Ally Financial

Acquisition of Delaware’s Digital-First Fair Square Filling Consumer Credit Card Gap for Industry Leader Ally Financial
By Lili Nguyen Posted on
Categories: Sponsored

This is a sponsored blog post by Delaware Prosperity Partnership

Delaware’s status as a hub for financial services dates back to the early 1980s, when state leaders enacted the Financial Center Development Act to welcome out-of-state banks and attract new investments. Today, financial services is the state’s largest traded sector. In Wilmington alone, nearly 170,000 financial services professionals work for venerable institutions like Bank of America, Barclays and Capital One and newer firms like College Ave Student Loans, Marlette Funding and PayPal, among many others. Another 100,000 technology experts are employed in the city’s metropolitan labor market.

With that amount of fintech expertise, it made sense for Rob Habgood and his team – all veterans of the Delaware credit card industry themselves – to launch Fair Square Financial (now part of Ally Financial Inc.) in Wilmington in 2016.

“There’s a very deep talent pool here in Delaware,” said Habgood, head of Ally Credit Card and former CEO of Fair Square. “There is more credit card talent here in Wilmington, Delaware, than any other place on the planet.”

Fair Square was created as a customer-centric, digital-first credit card company and quickly became known for its competitive brand of transparent and low-fee Ollo products.

What sets the Ollo (now Ally) card apart in a state known for credit cards is its digital-first strategy. Customers do everything from applying for a card to making payments and servicing their accounts online and via the mobile app. On the back end, machine learning models and advanced analytics drive decisions from targeted underwriting to customer management and collections, with teams all working hand-in-hand to execute a strategic plan in an open-plan fintech space.

By the time it was acquired by leading full-service digital bank Ally in 2021, the entrepreneurial, stand-alone business was operating in a lean, effective and successful manner with fewer than 100 Wilmington employees serving 693,000 customers around the world. The new Ally Credit Card headquarters remain in Wilmington, and operations there are growing.

“Ally’s strong nationwide brand allows us to go after more aggressive growth and compete effectively across the full spectrum of customers. We’re going to be growing pretty rapidly here and welcoming high-quality people to continue to build our team,” Habgood said.

In 2022, Ally announced it was investing $520,000 to renovate 22,000 square feet of the Wilmington site and adding up to 150 positions – which will increase employment there by up to 200% – through 2025. Supporting the company’s investment in this expansion are a $20,000 Capital Expenditure Grant and a $2.64 million Jobs Performance Grant from the Delaware Strategic Fund.

Hiring is across the board, from marketing and product personnel to data scientists with credit card experience in analytics, risk, compliance, operations and project management. Many of those whom Ally hopes to welcome already live in Delaware or the surrounding area, but more and more talent looking for a great place to live, work and play are discovering Delaware’s advantages.

Habgood, himself, moved to Delaware in 2011. “We enjoy a high quality of life here in Delaware,” he said. “We not only have access to major metro areas, but to beaches and beautiful countryside — and to great schools.”

“Delaware is a great place to live — a great place geographically — I couldn’t speak more highly of it,” he said.

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APEXX Global Raises $25 Million to Expand into North America

APEXX Global Raises $25 Million to Expand into North America
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • APEXX Global has raised $25 million in a Series B round.
  • The funds come from existing investors Forward Partners, Alliance, and MMC Ventures.
  • APEXX Global will use the new investment to expand further into North America and to boost product development.

Global payment solutions company APEXX Global has raised $25 million in Series B funding. The investment, which comes from Forward Partners, Alliance, and MMC Ventures, brings APEXX’s total amount raised to $37.1 million.

“I’m delighted to announce that we have successfully closed our Series B funding round,” said APEXX Global Co-founder and CEO Peter Keenan. “Since day one we’ve been laser-focused on our mission to build the world’s leading payment orchestration platform and deliver clear benefits to merchants. We‘ve seen strong growth across international markets, delivering significant cost savings and transaction conversion benefits. We look forward to using these funds to further consolidate our position in driving the future of global payments.”

APEXX Global, which currently holds offices in New York, London, and India, plans to use the funds to expand further into North America via its New York office. The company will also leverage the investment to boost product development.

APEXX offers a payment orchestration layer to help merchants optimize their payment stack. The company’s payment gateway enhances the global payment processing experience by processing payments locally to help circumvent foreign exchange fees on cross-border transactions.

In addition to traditional payment methods, APEXX enables businesses to offer alternative payment methods to their end customers. The company currently partners with more than 120 alternative payment methods, including Apple Pay, Klarna, Alipay, and PayPal. Allowing users to pay using their preferred method not only enhances the user experience, but it also has the potential to increase sales.

“We’ve seen good momentum in terms of customer growth, and we are delighted to continue to back Peter and his talented team as they work with merchants to rethink payments and save money,” said MMC Ventures Chairman and Co-founder Alan Morgan. With today’s agreement, Morgan will also take a seat on APEXX’s board of directors.

Photo by Monstera

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Paysera Taps Ria’s Physical Money Transfer Locations

Paysera Taps Ria’s Physical Money Transfer Locations
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Daily news
  • Paysera is partnering with Ria to add cash-pickup capabilities to its suite of financial services offerings.
  • Paysera clients can select from Ria’s network of 522,000 cash pickup locations in 152 countries.
  • The new service is currently available to Paysera clients using electronic banking and will be made available on the mobile app in the first half of this year.

E-money app Paysera is adding a cash-pickup service to its suite of financial services offerings. The new capability is made possible thanks to a partnership with international money transfer company Ria.

Owned by Euronet Worldwide, Ria enables clients to send money to a physical Ria cash pickup location instead of a bank. Customers can choose from Ria’s network of 522,000 cash pickup locations in 152 countries. Under today’s partnership, Paysera clients can now tap into this network when sending and receiving funds.

“Sometimes it’s not possible to transfer money to a bank account because the recipient doesn’t have a local bank account,” said Paysera CEO Gintautas Mezetis. “Even if the recipient has an account, it may not be linked to a debit card, the card may have been lost, or there may be no ATMs around to withdraw the money. An international transfer from Europe to Asia is sometimes more expensive than an alternative cash pickup transfer. Therefore, there are many situations where cash pickup transfers are useful and necessary.”

Paysera anticipates the new cash pickup offering will benefit migrants working in developed countries in Europe. Specifically, Paysera is seeking to help Ukrainian citizens temporarily living in European countries due to the war who need to transfer money back home.

The new Ria cash pickup service is currently available to Paysera customers using electronic banking. The company plans to make cash pickup available on the mobile app in the first half of 2023.

Paysera offers an online merchant payment gateway, money transfers, currency conversions, payment cards with a tandem financial management app, event ticketing, and a parcel locker network. The Lithuania-based company has had more than one million app downloads since it was founded in 2004.

As a legacy player in the money transfer space, Norway-based Ria also offers bill payment, mobile top-ups, prepaid debit cards, check cashing, and money orders. The company is partnered with many major retailers to serve as cash pick-up locations, including Walmart, 7-Eleven, Privatbank, and Post Finance.

Photo by Pixabay

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PayTech Awards 2023 Now Open for Nominations

By Lili Nguyen Posted on
Categories: Fintech

This highly acclaimed awards program, now in its sixth year, has been supporting, celebrating and recognizing excellence in the use of IT in the finance and payments industry worldwide.

PayTech Awards are open to banks and financial institutions, paytech software and services providers, and individuals and teams working in the payments industry across the globe.

Click here to start your nomination.

PayTech Project Awards are open to banks and financial institutions to enter:

  • Best PayTech Overhaul – Back Office
  • Best PayTech Overhaul – Front Office
  • Best New Payments Brand
  • Best Use of Tech in Consumer Payments
  • Best Use of Tech in Business Payments
  • Best Consumer Cards Initiative
  • Best SME Cards Initiative
  • Best Corporate Cards Initiative
  • Best Mobile Payments for Consumers Initiative
  • Best Mobile Payments for SMEs Initiative
  • Best Mobile Payments for Corporates Initiative
  • Best User/Customer Experience Initiative – Consumer Payments
  • Best User/Customer Experience Initiative – Business Payments
  • Best Bank & PayTech Partnership
  • Best Contribution to Economic Mobility in Payments
  • Top Innovation in Payments
  • Best Use of Tech in Combatting Fraud
  • Best Use of Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning
  • Best Use of Data
  • Best Green Initiative
  • PayTech for Good

Excellence In Tech Awards gives recognition to tech service and software providers:

  • Best Retail Payments System
  • Best Business Payments System
  • Best Spend Management System
  • Tech of the Future
  • PayTech Start-up of the Year
  • PayTech For Good

Leadership Awards are open to individuals or teams to enter:

  • Woman in PayTech – Bank/Financial Institution
  • Woman in PayTech – Software & Services Provider
  • PayTech Leadership – Bank/Financial Institution
  • PayTech Leadership – Software & Services Provider
  • Rising PayTech Star – Bank/Financial Institution
  • Rising PayTech Star – Software & Services Provider
  • PayTech Team of the Year – Bank/Financial Institution
  • PayTech Team of the Year – Software & Services Provider

Click here for more information on the nomination process and to enter the awards

Nominations close on Friday, 17 March 2023.

The awards ceremony will be held at the beautiful Merchant Taylors’ Hall in London on 30 June 2023. We look forward to seeing you there!

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Finovate Global Israel: From Innovations in Payroll to the Impact of Politics

Finovate Global Israel: From Innovations in Payroll to the Impact of Politics
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Finovate Global

Israel-based payroll and payments technology company Papaya Global unveiled its latest solution this week. The new offering, Papaya Global Payroll Payments, is a fully automated, embedded payments platform that facilitates global payroll processing and mass payments. The solution is designed to assist payroll vendors who typically outsource these payments to third party vendors who often are not best suited to handling payroll payments.

“Papaya Payroll Payments is a game changer, full stop.” Papaya CEO and co-founder Eynat Guez said. “No other company is offering fully automated, embedded payments designed for payroll. We are the first payroll payments company in the industry to help its clients navigate the needs of the local employee and the global employer.”

Papaya’s solution will also enable its customers to process payments faster given the fact that Papaya owns money transfer licenses globally and its technology is built specifically to facilitate payroll payments. The company said that payroll payments typically arrive within 72 hours, which it calls “an industry first.”

“We’re giving organizers with global workforces a true borderless solution for getting team members their payments quickly and accurately,” Guez said. “No more manual processes, no more late or inaccurate payments, no fees reaching the employees.”

Founded in 2016, Papaya Global maintains offices in Tel Aviv, New York, Austin, London, Kiev, Singapore, and Melbourne, Australia. Named to the Forbes Cloud 100 and CNBC’s Top Startups for the Enterprise, Papaya Global has raised more than $444 million in funding from investors such as Scale Venture Partners and Insight Partners.

E-commerce risk management platform Riskified announced late this week that it was pulling $500 million in cash and equivalents out of Israel. The move comes as concerns grow about a controversial judicial reform plan championed by the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The proposal would give the executive branch greater control over judge selection and limit the ability of the country’s Supreme Court to strike down legislation.

Riskified CEO Eido Gal was quoted by Reuters as fearing that the Israeli government might limit transfers and withdrawals of large sums should the financial situation in the country “continue to deteriorate.”

In addition to transferring funds out of the country, Riskified reported that it will expand hiring in its research and development site in Lisbon, Portugal.

Riskified was founded in 2012 and is based in New York. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the ticker RSKD and has a market capitalization of more than $940 million.

Learn more about the challenges currently faced by startups in Israel in this explainer from Crunchbase News. Note that Papaya Global, mentioned above, also moved funds out of Israel earlier this year, citing similar concerns about the country’s business climate and political uncertainty. Shuly Galili, founding partner at UpWest, a Silicon Valley-based seed investor that specializes in funding Israeli startups, was quoted as saying that passage of the judicial reform legislation would result impact “investments coming into the country, founders staying or not staying in the country.” Galili added that the new law could result in between $7 billion to $10 billion in funds leaving Israel.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • U.S. payment service provider i2c forged a partnership with UAE-based Mashreq.
  • Egypt-based Paymob announced a collaboration with streaming platform Shahid.
  • Crunchbase News featured Papaya Global in its look at the challenges faced by startups in Israel amid the country’s political turmoil.

Central and Southern Asia

  • India-based fintech unicorn Slice acquired a 5% stake in Indian bank North East Small Finance.
  • Pakistan fintech platform for the country’s trucking industry, Trukkr, raised $6.4 million in funding.
  • GrayQuest, the largest education-focused fintech in India, secured $7 million in new Series A funding.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Mexican fintech Bitso launched its Bitso Card payment solution in partnership with Mastercard.
  • Brazilian financial giant Nubank appointed former Meta executive David Marcus to its board of directors.
  • AI automation provider Esker partnered with Ecuador-based outsourcing and consulting specialist BPONE.

Asia-Pacific

  • Philippines-based Security Bank Corporation partnered with ACI Worldwide to enhance its real-time payment capabilities.
  • WeChat added digital yuan to its payment platform offerings.
  • Indonesia’s Bank BTPN teamed up with Surecomp for its trade financing platform Doka.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • A partnership between U.S.-based Clickatell and South African telecom Telkom will enable mobile messaging payments via WhatsApp.
  • Nigeria’s central bank issued new open banking legislation.
  • Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) teamed up with Mastercard in a strategic agreement that will enable banks to offer payment cards to fintechs in Kenya.

Central and Eastern Europe

Photo by Haley Black

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Jonathan Alloy on the State of Digital Banking

Jonathan Alloy on the State of Digital Banking
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Speaker series

Jonathan Alloy is a seasoned financial services professional with years of experience in the sector. He formerly served as Vice President of Design Thinking at Credit Suisse, where he was responsible for driving innovation and fostering a culture of human-centered design across the organization. Today, he is Vice President for Customer Experience and Innovation Consulting at Publicis Sapient.

Last fall, Jonathan Alloy and Steven Ramirez, CEO of Beyond the Arc, sat down to discuss the current state of digital banking. Here are some highlights from their conversation.

When it comes to partnerships, how does a fintech work with a bank to get a solution in front of customers?

Jonathan Alloy: Fintechs, or any new entrant into the banking industry, really need to understand that banks have two separate departments at the highest level. There’s a group that likes risk– that’s the front office, the people who take deposits, make loans, and trade securities– they thrive on correctly evaluating risk.

The back office, by contrast, thrives on minimizing risk. They’re looking for reasons to say no to protect the bank’s integrity, its reputation, its cybersecurity, and its trust with customers. They’re going to say no to things, even if they’re innovative, because it violates a policy that they’re incentivized by the bank to uphold. Maybe [the solution being offered] is only available in the cloud and the bank only allows things that are on-prem. That’s a very common example. So when you’re developing a solution, you have to understand the risk profile of who in the bank has the authority to say yes.

What is it about digital banking that excites you?

Alloy: I think the biggest opportunity right now in some ways remains where it was 20 years ago. [This opportunity] is increasingly being where the customer is. This enables us to deliver financial services when, where, and how they want to consume, not just how we want to provide it. And that’s an important distinction.

Whether [you deliver] through mobile payments, through white labeling, whatever the case may be– it’s a matter of getting out in front of the traditional banking silos, breaking down the walls we have internally, and getting it out in the world to understand it from [the customer’s] point of view.

When we look at the world through the eyes of how customers want to make purchases, payments, take out loans, and invest for retirement, we’re going to learn things that we don’t get if we stay in our silos.

Any tips for banks that want to think like a customer?

Alloy: The number one best thing I could encourage everybody to do is go shopping yourself. So you’re CEOs, your CXOs, your executive team, your management team, your middle managers, your front line employees– everybody should be required to go out, and from another bank that’s not you, as well as you, sign up for a new checking account, get a debit card and a credit card, take out a loan, buy a car– whatever your personal financial needs are. Think about, “was this experience enjoyable or tolerable?” In most cases, what we find, is that for most people, banking is barely tolerable. So when somebody comes along with an innovative new idea or a new approach that makes it just that much more better, they’re going to win great[er] share.

Hear more from Jonathan Alloy in the full conversation.

Photo by Andrew Neel

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Intuit Pulls from Mint to Build New Credit Karma Net Worth Tool

Intuit Pulls from Mint to Build New Credit Karma Net Worth Tool
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Credit Karma, Daily news, Mint
  • Credit Karma is launching Net Worth, a new tool that will enable users to view and track their net worth in a single place.
  • Intuit’s Mint business has joined the Credit Karma team to facilitate the new Net Worth tool.
  • At launch, the Net Worth tool will be available to U.S. consumers with credit scores above 720.

Intuit-owned Credit Karma is expanding from credit building into wealth building this week with its new launch, Net Worth. The new tool aims to help the company’s 120 million U.S. members track their net worth, and places Credit Karma one step closer toward its goal of becoming a full service personal financial management platform.

Intuit subsidiary Mint is key to today’s launch and has joined the Credit Karma team to implement the new offering. Mint launched in 2007 to help users keep track of all of their accounts in a single place. The company was one of the first to offer account aggregation in a direct-to-consumer offering.

“Credit Karma’s mission is to champion financial progress for all, but we know that financial progress looks different for everyone,” said Credit Karma CEO and Founder Kenneth Lin. “This next evolution of Credit Karma will combine the expertise and momentum generated by Mint with Credit Karma’s scale and technology, and enable us to help more Americans, in particular those who are faced with a new set of financial challenges and are looking to elevate and protect their net worth.”

At launch, Net Worth will be quite simple. The tool will help members understand the components of their net worth, monitor changes, and track their transactions over time. Future iterations will enable users to protect their net worth, maximize credit card rewards based on spending habits, and view investment insights. Interestingly, each of these secondary iterations comes with potential revenue streams, such as selling insurance, credit card promotional partnerships, etc.

Credit Karma is making Net Worth available to U.S. consumers with credit scores above 720 and hopes to expand the tool to more users over time. “Net Worth was built for U.S. consumers who have already made significant progress on their credit score and are looking for that next financial health indicator to track and take action on, as they continue their financial journey,” said Mint General Manager Ryan Steckler. “Before we can help consumers grow their net worth, we’ve built a seamless product experience that gives consumers a holistic view of all of their financial accounts, directly within the Credit Karma app.”

Photo by Karolina Grabowska

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Maine-Based Kennebec Savings Bank Launches Alkami Digital Banking Platform

Maine-Based Kennebec Savings Bank Launches Alkami Digital Banking Platform
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Alkami Technology, Alumni News, Daily news
  • Kennebec Savings Bank, based in Maine, went live with the digital banking platform from Alkami.
  • The technology will help the $1.6 billion financial institution provide a seamless and consistent user experience for its business, retail, and mobile banking customers.
  • Alkami made its Finovate debut in 2009 as “iThryv.” The company is headquartered in Plano, Texas.

Kennebec Savings Bank launched the Alkami Digital Banking Platform this week. The Maine-based financial institution, with $1.6 billion in assets, will leverage the newly integrated solution to provide a seamless digital banking experience for its business, retail, and mobile banking customers. Founded more than 150 years ago, Kennebec Savings Bank has a team of nearly 200 employees and maintains offices in Augusta, Farmingdale, Freeport, Waterville, and Winthrop.

“One of our key goals is to expand support for local businesses,” Kennebec SVP and Chief Information Officer Kevin Dono explained. “Alkami’s platform enables us to provide a seamless and consistent user experience for our business customers by giving them access to all accounts through a common user interface within a single system. Self-service capabilities help them manage multiple accounts and enable functionality options for individuals through permission settings.”

Headquartered in Plano, Texas, Alkami made its Finovate debut as “iThryv” in 2009. The company’s digital banking platform offers an intuitive solution for enhancing the onboarding process for new customers, and accelerating deposit and loan growth. The platform also supports digital cards and P2P transfers, offers financial wellness tools, and will enable Kennebec to leverage data to provide customers with greater personalization.

“We are excited to support Kennebec’s efforts to go beyond the traditional banking footprint and further empower and engage with customers,” Alkami CEO Alex Shootman said. “The Alkami Platform, combined with Kennebec’s outstanding service, will position them to deliver even greater value and service benefits to both current and future customers.”

Alkami began the year earning special recognition from AMOCO Federal Credit Union, which named Alkami its “Partner of the Year.” The award is designed to recognize the “outstanding positive impact” that the FCU’s business partners have had on the institution’s member service, growth, and innovation. AMOCO FCU, with 78,000 users — including 56,000 active digital banking users – has relied on Alkami’s Digital Banking Platform since 2019.

“We were very specific about the user experience (UX) and capabilities we needed for our members,” AMOCO SVP of Operations Technology Nate Ashworth said. “Alkami not only brought a best-in-class UX to the table, but also has the extensibility to build in the integrations we require now and into the future.”

Photo by Leah Kelley

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Coinbase Launches Wallet-as-a-Service

Coinbase Launches Wallet-as-a-Service
By Julie Muhn (@julieschicktanz) Posted on
Categories: Alumni News, Coinbase, Daily news
  • Coinbase is launching a Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS).
  • The offering will enable businesses to build web3 wallets for their customers, using only web2 skills.
  • Initial customers for the launch include NFT marketplace Floor, gaming platform Moonray, and token-gated events site Tokenproof.

Digital currency platform Coinbase launched a Wallet-as-a-Service (WaaS) this week. The new offering is aimed to help any company build customizable wallets for their clients, bringing them into the web3 era.

The launch comes after Coinbase realized that web3 wallets were out of reach for many businesses. These on-chain wallets– which help users store digital assets, facilitate transactions, and act as a digital identity– are complex and require technical knowledge. Coinbase’s WaaS aims to simplify things by enabling companies to offer a digital wallet onboarding experience that requires only a username and password. Coinbase will also enable companies to offer the wallet within their own app, enabling in-app transfers of currency or digital assets all in one place.

The WaaS tool enables users to access a web3 wallet using a web2 interface. Also making things easier for those new to web3 is the security. With WaaS, users are not required to manage their own keys. Instead, Coinbase uses advanced multi-party computation to securely divide, encrypt, and distribute keys among multiple parties.

Coinbase has already secured a handful of clients for its WaaS, including NFT marketplace Floor, gaming platform Moonray, and token-gated events site Tokenproof. “Individuals will no longer have to come with knowledge of how the blockchain works in order to interact with the brands they love,” said Tokenproof Founder Fonz. “When users download the tokenproof app, we’ll help welcome them into web3 by creating their first wallet, which will be powered by Coinbase.”

With 1,110 verified users on its platform, Coinbase sees $145 billion in quarterly volume traded and has $80 billion in assets on its platform. The company went public in 2021 and now trades on the NASDAQ under the ticker COIN with a current market capitalization of $14 billion. Earlier this month, Coinbase acquired digital asset management company One River Digital Asset Management in an effort to bridge the gap between financial institutions and the crypto economy.

Photo by Lukas

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Showcasing FinovateEurope’s Center Stage Speakers on International Women’s Day

Showcasing FinovateEurope’s Center Stage Speakers on International Women’s Day
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Diversity in Fintech, FinovateEurope 2023, List series, Women in Fintech

Last week, to kick off Women’s History Month, we highlighted the women who will be representing their companies on Day One at FinovateEurope on March 14 next week in London.

Today, on International Women’s Day, we would like to introduce you to the women who will be taking center stage with keynote addresses, fireside chats, and more on Day Two of FinovateEurope.

Suraya Randawa

Head of Omnichannel Experience at Curinos, Panelist. Meet at the Cafe.

Ouliana Smith

Senior Research Analyst at Omdia. Panelist. Analyst All-Stars.

Bianca Zwart

Chief of Staff to the CEO at bunq. Guest. Fireside Chat.

Louise Smith

Chair of the Board at Innovate Finance. Moderator. Power Panel on the Fintech Ecosystem and Strategic Partnerships.

Katharina Lueth

Chief Client Officer and Managing Director at Raisin. Panelist. Power Panel on the Fintech Ecosystem and Strategic Partnerships.

Elise Bohan

Senior Research Fellow, Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University. Guest. Out of the Box Fireside Chat on Transhumanism.

Sanghamitra Karra

EMEA Head of Multicultural Strategy and Multicultural Innovation Lab, Morgan Stanley. Guest. Fireside Chat: Why Diversity Matters.

Thea Loch

Head of Change Optimization at Lloyds Banking Group. Panelist. Power Panel on Digital Transformation.

Dhaksha Vivekanandan

Founder at Daylight Robbery. Speaker. Quick Fire Keynote on Bitcoin and Digital Assets.

Triin Linamagi

Founding Partner at Sie Ventures. Moderator. Investor All-Stars.

Hélène Falchier

Partner at Portage. Panelist. Investor All-Stars.

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Photo by Pavel Danilyuk

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