Fintech

Conducting the payments orchestra: Why SaaS is the future

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Practical use cases of SaaS adoption, and how it helps banks build effective transaction banking models

Practical AI in Payments: Moving Beyond Buzzwords to Bottom-Line Impact

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 15:00:00 +0000

How important is it to align data components and achieve higher straight through processing (STP) rates?

Beyond Open Banking – Exploring the Move to Open Finance

Thu, 13 Feb 2025 15:00:00 +0000

What do companies operating under open finance rules need to consider when sharing financial data with third-party providers?

The ISO 20022 deadline is looming: Are financial organisations prepared?

Tue, 11 Feb 2025 15:00:00 +0000

The countdown to ISO 20022 is on.

PREDICT 2025: What the National Payments Vision means for the UK

Thu, 06 Feb 2025 17:00:00 +0000

What can the industry expect from the post implementation review of the APP fraud reimbursement rules?

Behavioural biometrics: Meeting the deployment challenge

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 15:00:00 +0000

How should financial institutions deploy behavioral biometrics?

Money Mule Defence: Practical Applications and the Role of Technology

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 15:00:00 +0000

What are the challenges of detecting the activities of mules and the need for continuous monitoring at different stages, such as onboarding or transacting?

Trusted Transactions: The Future of Risk-Based Authentication

Tue, 28 Jan 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Why should issuers and processers use AI to embed trust in the transaction lifecycle?

Operational resilience in the age of DORA

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 15:00:00 +0000

Discover emerging operational resilience enterprise strategies.

Next Gen payment processing: How banks can embrace the future

Thu, 16 Jan 2025 15:00:00 +0000

How are payment processing needs changing?

PREDICT 2025: The Future of Faster Payments in the US

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 17:00:00 +0000

Which applications of Faster Payments in the UK are transferrable to the US?

Finovate Global: 10x Banking’s Lewis Ide on High Growth Markets in APAC and Africa

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 20:10:22 +0000

As 2025 approaches, where will new opportunities arise for financial institutions, financial services providers, and fintechs looking to expand into new markets?

In this week’s Finovate Global interview, I talk with Lewis Ide, Vice President for 10x Banking, about the opportunities in high-growth markets in APAC and Africa.

Part of the company’s senior leadership team, Ide is responsible for the strategy, growth, and execution of the business objectives at 10x Banking. He has a 13-year career in financial services technology with leadership roles in payments, financial infrastructure, and AML platforms.

10x Banking first introduced itself to Finovate audiences with its debut at FinovateEurope 2023 in London. The company won Best of Show for a demonstration of its 10x SuperCore Cards which enable banks to build a card proposition in minutes with 10x’s Bank Manager interface. Founded in 2016, 10x Banking is headquartered in London, U.K.

There is a lot of interest in high growth markets around the world, especially in the APAC region and in Africa. What is driving growth opportunities in these markets – starting with APAC?

Lewis Ide: I think it comes down to demographics first of all: APAC in particular has a young, growing, digitally-native population. Economies in this region are growing rapidly and with that come opportunities for growth in the financial services industry. And typically the countries across APAC are very innovation-friendly.

Regulation also really supports innovation. One example is in Thailand, where the regulator is releasing new digital banking licenses to support the growth of the industry from a digital-first point of view.

This all feeds into banks being able to benefit from core transformation, moving away from batch transactions to real-time transactions. They are also able to scale in user numbers and transaction volumes as the population grows and becomes even more digital-first. And the thing that makes that growth even more sustainable is the hyper-personalization that modern cores allow for, so banks in APAC can create unique offerings that consumers need.

What do small businesses in APAC need that they have not been getting from traditional financial services?

Ide: I think the first thing to say here is that traditionally, SME offerings have been bucketed into either the retail or the corporate bank offerings. Neither of these is really built around what small businesses need, so there is a demand in the market for tailored solutions.

The next thing is cost: these services are typically costly for SMEs because they aren’t tailored. I think what we’re now starting to see is a shift away from that bucketing towards banks being able to launch services that are specific and personalized to the needs of small businesses. That includes broadening access to credit, making it cheaper, and designing the products that the business needs at the time that they need them.

And again it’s innovation that is enabling this. The availability of agile, cloud-native infrastructures allows for a much more effective cost-to-income ratio control. And that in turn means that they can pass the cost benefits on to their customers in the form of new products at compelling price points. So the shift here is from high-cost services to tailored, personalized ones. And that’s been made achievable by agile, cloud-native core platforms.

What has prevented or limited the ability of financial institutions to respond to these pain points?

Ide: I would say the biggest thing is the legacy technology in place. In the last decade or so, neo cores emerged as a way to address the problems of legacy infrastructures, but they now come with almost a “neo legacy” of their own with limited ability to scale or personalize. Those that are able to be personalized can be very challenging to maintain or upgrade once the code has been written.

But in the last five to six years we’ve started to see a huge positive shift within the neobanks that has highlighted where the legacy and neo core platforms are now coming under pressure with those changing customer expectations.

That pressure comes from the way those legacy architectures were constructed. They were monolithic in nature and didn’t necessarily allow for hyper-personalization. They were also batch-based systems, very expensive to run on the mainframe. All of this requires specific and costly resources and makes it difficult for banks to respond to all of these pain points.

What changes have taken place or are taking place that are giving innovative companies the opportunity to step in with new solutions?

Ide: The adoption of cloud-native platforms that are microservice and API-based has been transformational in terms of the industry opportunity. This is why we launched the world’s first meta core at 10x Banking — to give customers access to a cloud-native core banking platform that overcomes the compromises of both legacy and neo cores.

This then allows customers to launch products at speed, gives them the hyper-personalization that they need, as well as doing so at a very low cost and with the ability to scale to hundreds of thousands of transactions per second, overcoming a number of the challenges that the industry has faced with great success.

What specific roles do you see for AI in helping institutions improve their operations and expand their services?

Ide: I think from our perspective, before we get to AI, it’s about data. The data structures that we use in this industry are the foundations of AI capability. You need to have access to high-quality, unsiloed data so there is a single source of truth across the business from which AI models can be launched.

From a core banking perspective, there are many things AI can enable, but three that spring to mind. First, at the customer layer, AI can personalize recommendations, power chatbots and make credit lending more efficient. Next is integration and transformation, enabling banks to connect all their systems together in a more efficient, composable architecture. Banks have a real opportunity to leverage AI to build better migration capability here. Finally – and this is something we are looking to support at 10x – is the ability to use AI to help code and create hyper-personalized products and services.

What the meta core allows our customers to do, for example, is get their data ready for AI, so they can unlock its full potential. So I always go back to that: making sure the data is clean and the structures are unsiloed so it’s all ready to go when you do start using AI.

Looking at Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa, what is driving growth there?

Ide: Africa is similar in some ways to APAC, so what I mentioned before in terms of the young demographic holds true here too. It’s a massive region, of course, so it’s hard to generalize. But there are some notable nuances in the way innovation is deployed in Africa. The mobile telecommunications networks like Safaricom and M-Pesa have been at the center of that, offering money transfer services alongside the telecommunications services.

Much of the growth here is driven by the desire to bring more people into the banked economy. Financial inclusion is big on the agenda. If you can reduce the percentage of unbanked people from, for example, 20% to 10%, that’s a big growth in customer numbers for banking and financial services. That’s a lot more people to provide services to, which again links back to the importance of scalability and personalization.

Some have suggested that Africa is the ideal example of a region unencumbered by complex legacy financial systems. Can you elaborate on how this impacts the environment for innovation and new ideas?

Ide: I would say that’s not the full story. The mobile telephone networks and operators have driven a lot of innovation as I touched on before, and there is a broad appetite for innovation across Africa in general. But there are challenges around the continued use of mainframe infrastructure, which is slowing banks down. As that has become more obvious, banks have been looking to core modernization, as well as partnerships with the mobile networks. This will enable them to extend their capability and services, which is a benefit for both the banks and the mobile networks.

Are there any trends in banking and financial services in the APAC or Africa that you think are underappreciated or even unrecognized? Are there opportunities there that 10x Banking is pursuing?

Ide: The major trend that goes underappreciated at the moment is in corporate banking. We have been working and investing heavily in this area, so I can speak from first-hand experience, with active projects in Vietnam, Thailand, Australia, South Africa, and Kenya to name a few. At the moment, there is a massive shift underway in corporate banking, moving from batch to real-time transactions, modernizing their cores. This will enable them to radically increase transaction processing volumes to better serve the demands of new and existing customers in the market.

Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.

Middle East and Northern Africa

Israeli fintech startup and chargeback management specialist Justt raised $30 million in Series C funding.
Merchants in Paymob’s network in Egypt can now accept Apple Pay.
Middle East-based payment solutions provider Magnati partnered with Arabian Automobiles Company (AAC).

Central and Southern Asia

India’s Karnataka Bank partnered with hybrid multicloud computing company Nutanix.
TBC Uzbekistan launched Osmon Card, its first credit card product.
India-based high-yield savings account Curie Money raised $1.2 million in seed funding.

Latin America and the Caribbean

El Salvador announced its intention to continue accumulating Bitcoin, but will discontinue its Bitcoin wallet Chivo as part of a financing deal with the IMF.
Uruguay-based cross-border payments company Bamboo teamed up with monetization platform Coda to enhance the gaming payment experience in Colombia.
Latin American payment platform AstroPay launched its multi-currency wallet.

Asia-Pacific

Singapore-based SME digital finance platform Funding Societies announced a $25 million investment from Cool Japan Fund.
Indonesia’s Bank Jago teamed up with Google Cloud to enhance the bank’s innovation strategy.
Malaysian fintech startup Swipey, which provides financial tools for small businesses, secured an investment from 1337 Ventures.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Ethiopia’s parliament passed legislation to enable foreign banks to operate in the country.
TechCrunch profiled African stablecoin startup Juicyway.
Nigeria’s Bamboo became the first Nigerian fintech to acquire a U.S. broker-dealer license.

Central and Eastern Europe

Bulgaria joined the European Central Bank’s TARGET Instant Payment Settlement (TIPS) service.
Episode Six partnered with Secupay to provide asylum seekers in Germany with payment cards to access financial assistance from the government.
Bank of Georgia turned to Cloudera to better leverage data analytics to enhance the customer experience.

Interested in demoing at FinovateEurope 2025 in London? Applications are still being accepted from innovative companies with new solutions that are ready to show. Visit our FinovateEurope hub today to learn more.

Photo by Rebecca Zaal

The post Finovate Global: 10x Banking’s Lewis Ide on High Growth Markets in APAC and Africa appeared first on Finovate.

TBC Bank Uzbekistan raises $37m

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 19:26:00 +0000

TBC Bank Uzbekistan (TBC UZ), the country’s largest digital bank, announces a $37 million equity investment from its majority shareholder London-listed TBC Bank Group PLC (TBC Group). This capital brings the total new equity funding secured in 2024 to $75 million, setting a new annual record for TBC UZ.

XTransfer and OCBC form partnership

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 19:24:00 +0000

XTransfer, the World’s Leading & China’s No.1 B2B Cross-Border Trade Payment Platform, and OCBC, the second largest financial services group in Southeast Asia, jointly announced the comprehensive partnership.

Brazil greenlights PayRetailers acquisition of Transfeera

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 19:22:00 +0000

The Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) and the Central Bank of Brazil (BCB) have officially approved the acquisition of Transfeera, a fintech specialised in payment solutions for businesses, by PayRetailers, a leading payments processor in Latin America and Africa.

CFPB sues JPMorgan, BofA and Wells Fargo over Zelle fraud

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 14:58:00 +0000

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, accusing them of allowing fraud to "fester" on P2P payments platform Zelle.

MoonPay gets Texas money transmitter license

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 14:56:00 +0000

We’re pleased to announce that the Texas Department of Banking has granted MoonPay a Money Transmitter License to provide money transmission services in the Lone Star State.

Delio appoints Felicia Meyerowitz Singh chair

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 14:53:00 +0000

Delio, a leading provider of white-label private market operating systems for financial institutions, has appointed Felicia Meyerowitz Singh as the new Chair.

İşbank expands partnership with Alipay+

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 13:31:00 +0000

İşbank, Turkey’s largest private bank and one of the country’s widest payment network, has made a new development on its 100th anniversary by expanding its partnership with Alipay+ to enhance the travel experience for international visitors to Turkey.

Fear of fraud in instant payments shouldn’t stop progress – US Faster Payments Council

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:21:00 +0000

A key conflict that will undoubtedly shape progress within fintech successes throughout 2025 is the shifting innovations of instant payments and the problem of evolving fraud alongside it.

Shariah-compliant ethical bank Gatehouse Bank launches community sports fund

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:15:00 +0000

Gatehouse Bank has announced the launch of a community sports fund which aims to support local, grassroots sports teams.

PalmPay and Jumia partner to develop Nigerian digital payment ecosystem

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:05:00 +0000

In an attempt to grow the use of the cashless economy, operator of Nigeria's most used mobile wallet PalmPay has partnered with African e-commerce giant Jumia.

Alipay+ now has 35 international payment partners

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Alipay+, Ant International’s cross-border mobile payment and digitalisation technology solution, announced new payment partners, expanded global merchant coverage with more key travel scenarios, and introduced exclusive rewards for its partners’ users in time for the year-end peak travel season.

Crédit Agricole to acquire Santander stake in Caceis

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 09:45:00 +0000

Crédit Agricole SA will continue to strengthen Caceis’ position as one of the major European players in asset servicing, supporting its clients’ business development objectives.

Chargeback platform Justt raises $30 million

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 00:01:00 +0000

Chargeback management firm Justt has secured a $30 million Series C round to fund global expansion.

DeepTarget Unveils AI-Powered Email Service AImail

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 18:21:20 +0000

DeepTarget, a digital marketing services provider for financial institutions, has launched its AI-powered email service AImail.
The new offering empowers community banks and credit unions with enterprise-level marketing capabilities to enable them to deliver personalized communications at scale.
DeepTarget made its Finovate debut at our all-digital conference FinovateWest 2020. The company is headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama.

DeepTarget unveiled its AI-powered email service, AImail, this week. The technology is a full-service solution that provides credit unions and community banks with enterprise-level marketing services to deliver personalized communications at scale.

In a statement, the company highlighted the fact that email remains an important channel of communications between financial institutions and their customers. Email remains the most cost-effective channel for most FIs, helping them reach account holders who may not frequent a brick-and-mortar branch or take advantage of digital banking. At the same time, many community banks and credit unions have struggled to maximize email as a communications channel due to resource challenges, regulatory issues, or inadequate data analysis capabilities.

“While new channels emerge constantly, email remains the most universal and trusted way to reach account holders,” DeepTarget CEO Preetha Pulusani said. “Nearly every adult with a bank account has an email address, and not all of them visit branches or use digital banking. They expect to receive important financial communications through this channel.”

To this end, AImail combines AI technology with deep financial services expertise in the form of fractional digital marketing experts. This enables AImail to deliver compliant personalization and regulator-friendly content, as well as targeted optimization to ensure that marketing campaigns reach the best audiences for maximum impact. AImail embeds banner ads in each email campaign that use GenAI images and messages created by DeepTarget’s ADbuzz technology to enhance engagement. The solution streamlines marketing campaigns, boosting email engagement rates by up to 3x, and provides valuable metrics including built-in ROI tracking and reporting.

“What makes AImail revolutionary is its ability to transform these routine touchpoints into meaningful, personalized conversations that drive engagement and growth,” Pulusani said. “What used to take marketing teams weeks to accomplish now happens with our experts using AImail on behalf of financial institutions, with robust results and strong compliance controls.”

Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama, DeepTarget made its Finovate debut at our all-digital conference, FinovateWest2020. At the event, the company demonstrated its 3DStoryTeller solution. 3DStoryTeller blends the intelligence and capabilities of the company’s Digital Experience Platform with a 3D user interface that enables financial institutions to offer a unique experience featuring visual stories that engage and entertain customers.

Photo by Pablò on Unsplash

The post DeepTarget Unveils AI-Powered Email Service AImail appeared first on Finovate.

Sustainability-linked bonds see a drop in issuance – AFME ESG Report

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 15:54:00 +0000

The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has released its ESG report for the third quarter of 2024, seeing key developments in the ESG finance space.

Streamly Snapshot: Disrupting the Market with Refunds-as-a-Service

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 15:46:00 +0000

One of the latest developments in the payments space, Refunds-as-a-Service, promises to bring innovation to an area of customer experience – refunds – in which more than a trillion dollars of value are exchanged every year.

In today’s Streamly interview, Jeremy Balkin, Founder and CEO of TodayPay, talks with me about his path from a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan to the launch of his refunds-as-a-service startup. Balkin explains the inspiration behind the decision, the company’s progress to date, as well as TodayPay’s upcoming direct-to-consumer product launch.

“We’re the world’s first dedicated refund payment network. It’s an alternative payment method for both merchants and consumers to receive refunds. We’re pioneering a category we like to call refunds-as-a-service, serving merchants, marketplaces, insurers, issuers, and consumers to get a better refund experience.”

A finalist in the “Top Emerging Fintech” category of the 2024 Finovate Awards, TodayPay enables merchants to offer their customers instant refunds over a variety of payment choices, including cashback. A pioneer in the field of Refunds-as-a-Service, TodayPay is part of the Visa Fasttrack program.

Before launching TodayPay, Jeremy Balkin was a Managing Director for J.P. Morgan in New York City where he led fintech innovation and corporate development in the payment space.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

The post Streamly Snapshot: Disrupting the Market with Refunds-as-a-Service appeared first on Finovate.

Visa completes acquisition of Featurespace

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 15:16:00 +0000

Visa (NYSE: V) today announced it has completed its acquisition of Featurespace, a developer of real-time artificial intelligence (AI) payments protection technology that prevents and mitigates payments fraud and financial crime risks.

ING appoints Debbie Janeczek from Swift as chief information officer

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 13:57:00 +0000

ING announced today that it has appointed Debbie Janeczek as chief information security officer (CISO), effective 13 January 2025.

Trillium Surveyor and Kaiko team to address demand for institutional-grade crypto trade surveillance

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 13:54:00 +0000

Trillium Surveyor, a leading provider of trade surveillance and best execution software, and Kaiko, the leading cryptocurrency market data provider, today announced a strategic partnership to deliver best-in-class solutions for financial institutions and exchanges engaged in cryptocurrency trading.

Lending tech vendor Zest AI lands $200 million growth investment

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 13:51:00 +0000

Zest AI, a leader in AI lending technology, announced a $200 million growth investment from global software investor Insight Partners to support the company's next phase of transformation.

How the National Payments Vision intends to shape the future of financial services

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 12:18:59 +0000

HM Treasury published its National Payments Vision (NPV) report on 14 November 2024, immediately af...

Chime files for IPO

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 10:19:00 +0000

Digital-first mobile bank Chime Financial has reportedly filed for an IPO, according to sources cited by Bloomberg.

Former UBS investment analyst unveils voice cloned AI education tool

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 09:30:00 +0000

Geoff Robinson, a former UBS investment analyst, has launched an educational app that uses his digitally cloned voice and AI-generated expertise to help self-directed investors lean on his experience.

UK neobank app downloads surpass legacy banks for the first time

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 08:00:00 +0000

A new analysis of finance, fintech and crypto apps on the Google Play Store by SplitMetrics, has found that UK neobanks have surpassed UK legacy banks in terms of app downloads for the very first time ahead of the festive season.

Google Cloud predicts four ways that GenAI will transform financial services

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:01:00 +0000

The next year will see an industry tipping point for AI innovation in the financial sector, says Zac Maufe, global head of regulated industries at Google Cloud.

New Zealand reduces merchant service fees for card payments

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 00:01:00 +0000

New Zealand's Commerce Commission has issued a draft decision to reduce fees paid by Kiwi businesses for accepting Visa and Mastercard payments.

Chainalysis Acquires Web3 Security Company Hexagate

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 16:38:08 +0000

Blockchain data platform Chainalysis has acquired web3 security solutions provider Hexagate.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The acquisition aligns with Chainalysis’ mission to build trust in blockchain ecosystems by integrating Hexagate’s machine learning-based threat detection and prevention technology, benefiting chains, protocols, and exchanges.

Blockchain data platform Chainalysis has acquired web3 security solutions provider Hexagate this week. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Hexagate’s security solutions detect and mitigate real-time threats, including cyber exploits, hacks, and governance and financial risks to help chains, protocols, asset managers, and exchanges keep their funds secure. The Israel-based company monitors blockchain networks and leverages machine learning to identify suspicious patterns and transactions in real-time. Hexagate’s customers include Coinbase and Consensys.

“I have long believed that in order to advance the Chainalysis mission to build trust in blockchains, we would need to expand our business beyond investigations and into prevention,” said Chainalysis Co-founder and CEO Jonathan Levin.

With billions of dollars in crypto stolen each year, Chainalysis anticipates that Hexagate will help create a safer financial platform that fosters trust in solutions. Levin added that protecting the crypto ecosystem will only become more crucial as smart contracts facilitate more value and the use of stablecoins grow. He also noted that governments are increasing the monitoring of smart contracts associated with illicit funds.

Chainalysis was founded in 2014 and has raised $537 million. Among its offerings are automated cryptocurrency transaction monitoring software, investigation software for tracing the flow of funds across blockchains, and profiles of cryptocurrency businesses. Today’s deal marks the company’s third acquisition, following its purchase of Transpose in 2023.

Photo by Bich Tran

The post Chainalysis Acquires Web3 Security Company Hexagate appeared first on Finovate.

How Partnerships Can Be Key to Startup Survival

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 16:00:00 +0000

Many startups have a large number of decisions to make and each one has the chance to affect their trajectory significantly. As a result, some will often rush what might initially be seen as the simplest decision: who to bank with. Yet Rob Burnett, Director of Startup Banking, Grasshopper Bank told FinextraTV in this interview that it might be worth spending longer considering a banking partner. This first decision - finding the right person for their specific, niche needs - could reduce the time spent deciding future expenses, help them be compliant and enable a consistent growth

For Embedded Finance, Innovation & Compliance Can Work Hand in Hand

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 16:00:00 +0000

As we look to 2025, one area of Fintech focus that continues to gain interest is embedded finance. Renata Caine, General Manager, Banking as a Service, Green Dot Corporation, in a FinextraTV interview, shared her opinions on how this topic is evolving, as well supplying statistics on embedded finance’s investment trends from Green Dot’s own report. As a part of this conversation, Caine shares her belief that innovation is not at odds with compliance but hand in hand with it.

The Path to Climate Progress: Optimism, Purpose and Technological Innovation

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 13:50:00 +0000

In this Unplugged FinextraTV interview, Patrick Sheehan, Founder & Managing Partner, ETF Partners recounts the company’s 20 year journey leading VC sustainability through innovation. During this conversation, Sheehan explains the positive changes he’s witnessed as well as stating his belief that progress is possible when met with optimism, purpose and technological innovation. As well as calling for a return to simpler language, Sheehan shares his thoughts on the future.

Temenos banks can now launch digital asset services "within days" following integration with Taurus

Wed, 18 Dec 2024 13:35:00 +0000

Digital asset infrastructure firm Taurus has fully integrated with fellow Swiss vendor Temenos, enabling banks to create and manage crypto wallets as well as transfer a wide range of digital assets directly from within their installed core banking software.

BVNK Raises $50 Million for its Stablecoin Infrastructure Platform

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 19:13:40 +0000

U.K.-based stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK secured a $50 million Series B round, boosting its valuation to $750 million.
The round was led by Haun Ventures with participation from Coinbase Ventures and Tiger Global.
BVNK plans to launch in the U.S. next month with offices in New York and San Francisco.

As living proof that the stablecoin revolution is underway, stablecoin infrastructure provider BVNK has raised $50 million. The investment is the U.K.-based fintech’s first round since 2022 and boosts its valuation to around $750 million.

Haun Ventures led the Series B round, which also included participation from Coinbase Ventures and existing investor Tiger Global. Notably, Haun Ventures is also an investor in stablecoin infrastructure startup Bridge, which was acquired by Stripe for over $1 billion in October of this year.

“Every competitor of Stripe is coming to us saying, ‘Stripe’s done this, how can we get involved in the space now?'” BVNK cofounder and CEO Jesse Hemson-Struthers told Fortune.

Stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat or a physical asset, have the potential to bring significant value to users. That’s because they are both instant and inexpensive, unlike payments made via traditional payments rails such as SWIFT. Stablecoins have exceptional potential for cross-border payments and remittances. They offer greater accessibility compared to traditional banking systems, while also mitigating the volatility typically associated with other cryptocurrencies.

Stablecoin infrastructure companies like BVNK and its competitor Bridge are key players in the stablecoin space, as they serve as on-and-off ramps for converting fiat into stablecoins and back.

BVNK was founded in 2021 and currently processes an annualized volume of $10 billion. The company integrates with established banking networks like SWIFT and SEPA to provide real-time settlement and the ability to operate outside of standard banking hours. BVNK has historically focused on the European and Asian markets, but plans to launch in the U.S. next month, opening offices in New York and San Francisco.

Photo by Nicolas Postiglioni

The post BVNK Raises $50 Million for its Stablecoin Infrastructure Platform appeared first on Finovate.

Accessing New Opportunities for Digital Payment Growth in India

Tue, 17 Dec 2024 12:56:36 +0000

India's transition to a digital payment powerhouse has been remarkable, driven by the success of pla...

Capitalise Teams Up with Plaid

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 21:03:58 +0000

Capitalise, a business finance platform based in the U.K., has forged a strategic partnership with data and open finance network Plaid.
The collaboration integrates Plaid’s open banking services with Capitalise’s Instant Offers to simplify and streamline small business funding.
Capitalise made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2016. Plaid has been a Finovate alum since 2014.

U.K.-based business finance platform Capitalise has announced a strategic collaboration with fellow Finovate alum Plaid. The partnership is designed to simplify business funding, leveraging Open Banking to offer pre-approvals to 150,000 small businesses. Capitalise will integrate Plaid’s Open Banking services into its Instant Offers solution to enable businesses to secure pre-approvals from multiple lenders. Businesses will be able to accept offers and receive funding in minutes rather than days or weeks.

The partnership enhances Capitalise’s lending origination service by removing friction from the funding process. It will also help boost conversions thanks to faster decision-making that relies on accurate, real-time data. The collaboration comes at a time when a growing number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the U.K. are embracing open banking technology. Plaid reported that adoption of open banking by U.K.-based SMEs has increased by 18% year-over-year.

“Open Banking sits at the core of SME credit decisioning and brings confidence to underwriting risk assessments,” Capitalise Co-Founder Ollie Maitland said. “These advances, in tandem with the huge growth in private credit markets, can bring down the high cost of non-bank lending. This is good news for U.K. small businesses.”

Open banking brings faster application processes, access to real-time financial data to accelerate approvals, and the ability to offer personalized rates, which can lower costs for borrowers. Challenger banks and alternative lenders have become huge players in the market for SME lending, representing more than 60% of new SME lending in the U.K. This has led to more options for small businesses looking for funding, and more competition between those looking to fund them.

“Pre-approvals have been the perfect use-case for Open Banking as a win for business owners browsing and great pre-qualification for lenders looking to lend,” Maitland said. “Plaid was a natural choice with their experience in SME lending plus their global presence.”

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, Plaid offers an international data and open finance network that helps make payments simpler and lending more accessible. With more than 100 million global users in more than 18 countries, Plaid’s technology helps institutions take advantage of open banking and open finance connectivity to grow revenues and fight fraud. Plaid has partnered with more than 12,000 companies — including members of the Fortune 500 — to help them provide their customers with greater choice and control over their financial lives.

Capitalise made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope 2016. At the conference, Maitland and co-founder Paul Surtees demonstrated how the company’s platform uses behavioral data to match and rank lenders and algorithms to compare more than 2,500 data points to find the most appropriate funding solutions for businesses. Today, the firm’s lending marketplace features 100 lenders, including 10 integrated Open Finance lenders on its Instant Offers framework.

Photo by Jaanus Jagomägi on Unsplash

The post Capitalise Teams Up with Plaid appeared first on Finovate.

Current Bags $200 Million in New Capital

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 20:48:55 +0000

Digital challenger bank Current raised $200 million, boosting its total funding to over $600 million.
Current plans to use the funding to enhance and scale its accessible financial products that promote inclusion.
As part of today’s announcement, Current reported a 90% revenue increase this year and welcomed new investors General Catalyst and Cross River Bank.

Digital bank Current received $200 million in fresh capital this week. Along with the announcement, the New York-based company revealed that it experienced a record-breaking year, seeing a 90% increase in revenue.

The company has raised just over $600 million, inclusive of today’s round. Current plans to use the funds to build more accessible financial solutions.

Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Wellington Management, and Avenir contributed to the round. Two new investors, General Catalyst and Cross River, also participated. Current expects General Catalyst’s investment will drive member acquisition and fuel profitability. The company also said that Cross River Bank is extending warehouse funding to support Current’s Paycheck Advance product and credit-building card offering.

“Millions of Americans are struggling with affordable access to liquidity and credit,” said Current CEO and co-founder Stuart Sopp. “This new capital provides us the most efficient way to scale these solutions, including providing even higher limits of our earned wage access product to more people and setting our company on the best path to long-term success, including reaching profitability in 2025.”

Current was founded in 2015 to create a banking system that’s more affordable, accessible, and innovative. The company has a credit-building card, early paycheck advance product, fee-free overdraft, crypto trading platform, as well as a high-yield savings account with a transaction round-up savings feature.

“Current’s tremendous growth this year showcases the true product-market fit it has unlocked,” said General Catalyst’s Roy Mabrey. “We are excited to invest in the future of Current because of its demonstrated ability to scale with great unit economics and the key gap it is stepping up to fill in the market for millions of Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. We look forward to supporting Stuart and the team as they continue to grow and be at the forefront of product innovation.”

Photo by Killian Eon

The post Current Bags $200 Million in New Capital appeared first on Finovate.

A Look Back at What You Loved: Top 10 Posts of 2024

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 18:58:27 +0000

As both a conference producer and a news outlet, we’re always paying close attention to the topics that resonate most with you — our audience of fintech and banking professionals. To wrap up 2024 and brace ourselves of what to expect for 2025, we analyzed readership data to gain valuable insights into the stories, trends, companies, and products that mattered most to the industry this year to create the top 10 posts of 2024.

This list is compiled of posts published in 2024 that garnered the highest number of views and engagement in 2024. From breaking news to big IPOs, these were the stories you found most compelling. So, without further ado, here’s a countdown of the top 10 posts that captured your interest over the past year.

#10: Finovate Awards finalists (link)

Meet the Finalists of the 2024 Finovate Awards!

#9: Klarna’s long-awaited IPO (link)

5 Facts About Klarna’s Long-Awaited IPO

#8: How Galileo is expanding into real time payments (link)

SoFi’s Galileo Extends Partnership with The Bancorp to Offer Real-Time Payments

#7: A highlight of conversations with FinovateFall’s Best of Show Winners (link)

Best of Show Winners from FinovateFall 2024 Join the Finovate Podcast

#6: A look at Socure’s big buy (link)

Socure Acquires Real-Time Risk Decisioning Company Effectiv for $136 Million

#5: A Finovate Global roundup focused on central Asia (link)

Finovate Global Uzbekistan: Fintech Innovation and Banking Breakthroughs in Central Asia

#4: A look at how Walmart is tapping a traditional fintech player to compete on payments (link)

Walmart Taps Fiserv to Offer Pay by Bank

#3: The news event that kicked off the stablecoin frenzy (link)

What Stripe’s Purchase of Bridge Means for Stablecoins in the U.S.

#2: A mid-year roundup of M&A activity (link)

Top 10 Fintech Acquisitions of Summer 2024 (So Far)

#1: How Revolut is doubling down in the wealth management arena (link)

Revolut to Launch Standalone Wealth Management App

Photo by Vlada Karpovich

The post A Look Back at What You Loved: Top 10 Posts of 2024 appeared first on Finovate.

Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 16:38:35 +0000

Winter officially begins at the end of the week for many of us, and the seasonal, end-of-year holidays are right around the corner.

This week in the Fintech Rundown we start off with news of a major acquisition in the supply chain finance space, and a handful of fundraisings in fields ranging from wealth management to crypto.

Payments

FIS agrees to acquire supply chain finance platform Demica in a deal estimated to be worth $300 million.

Mastercard partners with Riyad Bank subsidiary Jeel to promote payment modernization in Saudi Arabia.

Wealth management

U.K.-based investment platform WiseAlpha enables retail investors to buy and sell corporate bonds.

Jiko raises $29 million in Series C funding to power its platform that gives investors access to U.S. Treasury bills.

B2B wealthtech platform Allfunds unveils its AI-powered navigation assistant, ANA.

Personal finance management

U.S.-based PFM app Current secures $200 million in funding from Andreessen Horowitz, Wellington Management, Avenir, General Catalyst, and Cross River.

Crypto / DeFi

Nigeria-based, cross-border stablecoin company Juicyway locks in $3 million in pre-seed funding.

Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget looks to establish a regional European hub in Lithuania.

Digital banking

TBC Uzbekistan launches its digital-only business banking platform.

Insurtech

CU Financial Group and insurtech company Sure introduce SimpleQuote, a digital insurance solution for credit unions.

Photo by Brigitte Tohm

The post Fintech Rundown: A Rapid Review of Weekly News appeared first on Finovate.

ACH and The Importance of Routing Transit Numbers

Mon, 16 Dec 2024 14:00:00 +0000

As the years progress, ACH payments are increasing in popularity and in usage but when using such a payment method, it’s important to have the right data and information available. John Hutton, Global Head of Payments, LexisNexis Risk Solutions joined FinextraTV for this interview, exploring what ACH payments are and what risks can be involved. Hutton goes on to discuss both the simplistic detail of having the right routing transit number and how their organisation works in collaboration with Nacha to bring the right data to clients.