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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
Bold Commerce will offer its merchant clients a pay by bank solution, thanks to a partnership with open banking innovator Link Money.
When consumers pay using their bank account, merchants avoid credit card processing fees and experience reduced fraud.
There has been an uptick in pay by bank activity in fintech in recent months, with J.P. Morgan and Adyen both announcing plans to offer the new payment method.
Ecommerce checkout innovator Bold Commerceannounced recently it is offering its merchant clients a new way to pay. The Canada-based company has tapped open banking technology company Link Money to help its merchant clients offer more payment options in the checkout experience for their end customers.
Specifically, merchants using Bold Commerce’s checkout tools can take advantage of Link Money’s Pay by Bank solution, which offers consumers an alternative to credit card payments and helps businesses reduce payment processing fees, credit card fraud, and provides guaranteed funds at checkout.
“Every shopper has their preferred payment method among the wide range of options available to them—from Buy Now, Pay Later to digital wallets, credit cards, and account-to-account payments—and they won’t hesitate to leave a product behind if their preferred method isn’t available,” said Bold Commerce CEO Peter Karpas. “It’s why we’re hyperfocused on diversifying the payment options we offer to brands, so they can personalize checkout for individual shoppers down to payment. Adding Link Money’s Pay by Bank solution to our repertoire rounds out these offerings.”
To keep the user experience simple, Link Money’s Pay by Bank leverages open banking, connecting to 3,400 banks across the U.S. Once the shopper selects and signs into their bank, they choose the account they’d like to use for the purchase and initiate the payment.
Link Money, also known as Link Financial Technologies, was founded in 2021. In addition to offering Pay by Bank, the California-based company also offers AccountVerify a verification solution to help merchants ensure that their customers are connecting real bank accounts. The company has raised $30 million and recently named Eric Shoykhet CEO.
With its potential to negate the fees and fraud that come with credit card payments, pay by bank has seen an uptick in popularity lately. Last month, J.P. Morgan disclosed it was leveraging Mastercard to provide billers with the ability to allow their customers to pay bills directly from their bank account. Days after that announcement, Adyen unveiled that it is teaming up with Plaid to launch its pay by bank services in North America early next year.
What are the biggest challenges facing banks when it comes to modernization and digital transformation? We checked in with Charbel Safadi, President, Modernization and Transformation, with Zafin, to hear his thoughts on what banks and other financial institutions are doing to future-proof their businesses and better serve their customers.
Zafin made its Finovate debut in 2017 at FinovateFall. The company offers a cloud-based product and pricing platform that simplifies core modernization for the world’s biggest banks. Zafin’s platform enables business teams to collaborate in the design and management of pricing, products, and packages. At the same time, the platform empowers technology teams to streamline core banking systems.
Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, and founded in 2002, Zafin includes Wells Fargo, HSBC, and CIBC among its customers.
When you look at the current landscape for banks, what is their biggest technological challenge right now?
Charbel Safadi: The predominant technological challenge facing banks in the current landscape is the accumulation of legacy technology platforms that impede adaptability and innovation. These platforms, built over several decades, create a significant tech debt, hindering banks from promptly responding to changing market demands. This stands in contrast to agile fintech startups, unburdened by such legacy systems.
For banks, the challenge lies in modernizing these deeply entrenched platforms to enable transformative experiences and stay competitive in the rapidly evolving financial landscape. Despite significant time and financial investments, the traditional “rip and replace” approach has proven unsuccessful. This tech debt, rather than a lack of inherent competitiveness, is the primary obstacle for banks in delivering compelling value propositions, necessitating a forward-looking, progressive modernization strategy.
You just recently joined Zafin and are part of the company’s new transformation and modernization division. Tell us about why you joined the company and what this new division is all about.
Safadi: Zafin’s mission is to empower banks in reshaping their business models and updating technology platforms. As a leader in our organization, my role is to align our vision with clients’ business goals, fostering a cohesive team that mirrors banks’ transformation strategies. With a background in financial services consulting and experience with global banks, I recognize the market’s strong focus for the next decade and Zafin’s potential impact.
Being part of Zafin’s journey excites me, given its pivotal role in contributing to clients’ transformation agendas. Zafin’s strategic position emphasizes technology and business platforms, distinguishing it in the market. This allows us to provide significant value, aiding clients in kickstarting technology modernization while transforming their business models.
I am confident in our ability to guide clients through this journey, making a substantial impact and offering the necessary tools for success. Zafin’s forward-thinking strategy, coupled with our cohesive team and inclusive culture, solidified my decision to be part of this transformative organization.
Tell us about the launch of Zafin Studio. What challenge will it help Zafin customers resolve?
Safadi:Zafin Studio represents a significant advancement in the modernization of technology platforms, specifically addressing the challenge of crafting forward-looking propositions tailored to each client’s unique values and needs. Unlike existing solutions in the market, Zafin Studio adopts a comprehensive approach to banking propositions. Leveraging the Product and Pricing Index (PPI) tool, it rapidly gathers, filters, and segments data and insights for analysis from leading global banks, bridging a crucial market gap. This empowers various stakeholders within a bank, from business users to product managers and department heads.
Our goal is to equip them with the tools to comprehend market dynamics, enabling swift research on top banks worldwide and insights into their product designs and rate structures. The collected information is entirely external and does not involve customer data. Through Product Explorer, Zafin Studio unravels the intricacies of product offerings, merging external market research with an internal product explorer. The drag-and-drop feature of Proposition Canvas in turn empowers banks to seamlessly design and implement cutting-edge functionalities. Essentially, Zafin Studio acts as a governing methodology and framework, revolutionizing banks’ transformation approaches. We eagerly anticipate our clients utilizing Zafin Studio to elevate co-created value propositions to new heights.
Zafin is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. What are some of the top concerns for Canadian banks that might differ from those of banks in the U.S., the U.K., or Europe?
Safadi: In Canada, the banking landscape differs significantly from the U.S., U.K. and Europe due to population size and the number of institutions. Canadian banks are primarily concerned with population dynamics, competition, and the regulatory framework. The evolving regulatory landscape indicates that open banking is on the horizon in Canada. This, combined with the rise of innovative fintech firms free from legacy technology constraints, compels banks to prepare for the coming years.
While fintech companies lack the technological burdens of traditional institutions, they also lack the established customer base of incumbents. To capitalize on this, banks must pivot towards a more horizontally aligned approach to product development and proposition modeling. This involves adopting a holistic view of the Canadian customer, encompassing their entire financial journey and value chain. By consolidating data from diverse systems, including mortgages, lending, and deposits, banks can craft compelling value propositions that genuinely resonate with consumers. Prioritizing strong relationships over sheer customer volume is crucial. This means tailoring pricing, offers, and incentives to match the customer’s entire banking journey. This forward-thinking approach ensures sustained delivery of substantial value and the preservation of loyalty within the existing client base, thereby upholding a competitive edge rooted in customer trust.
Speaking of international activity, Zafin recently announced a new operational center in Dubai and the upcoming release of various AI-based solutions for the Middle Eastern market. Tell us about some of the top trends in fintech in the Middle East?
Safadi: Zafin is making significant investments in Generative AI, with Zafin Copilot serving as a central component in our technology portfolio. This tool is pivotal for both external client interactions and internal team processes. We’ve dedicated significant efforts to explore how AI can enhance product and pricing modeling, effectively harnessing continuously generated data, including customer details, transactions, and relationship data. We’ve made it a priority to equip our clients with the technological capabilities needed for full access to the rich data set within our platform.
Globally, AI forms a fundamental part of our strategy, with a notable emphasis on the Middle Eastern marketplace. This region’s substantial investments in AI makes it an ideal ground to explore dynamic pricing, especially in comparison to markets with stricter pricing regulations.
Our core principles of trust, transparency, and fairness in banking guide all AI development initiatives. We ensure strict adherence to regulatory frameworks across global markets. AI is viewed as an intrinsic element of our entire platform, offering benefits to our customers, end consumers, and internal teams while aligning with our commitment to ethical and regulatory standards.
What trends in fintech and financial services are currently being underestimated in terms of their potential impact in the next few years?
Safadi: Many organizations are considering the adoption of Generative AI technologies. The central question revolves around how AI can effectively be utilized to reassess and improve product design, customizing offerings for each individual. This transition not only poses a challenge but also presents an opportunity. AI has the potential to centralize and grant access to the everyday data encountered by most organizations. The focus should now pivot towards creating dynamic product offerings that align with the unique value of each individual, taking into account the customer’s current life stage, priorities, and preferences.
In addition to well-explored areas like AI, another crucial emphasis lies in the design of the next-generation product architecture. Through global discussions and collaborations with banking clients, trailblazing organizations such as Zafin are actively shaping a horizontal model for the next generation of product architecture in financial institutions. This architecture should span the entire spectrum of banking, delivering a tailored and dynamic experience precisely meeting the customer’s needs at any given moment. Banks should persist in prioritizing depth and loyalty in customer relationships, recognizing their significance in the forthcoming years.
What can we expect from Zafin over the balance of 2023 and into 2024?
Safadi: Zafin is firmly dedicated to executing its strategy, aiming to provide substantial value to our clients. This dedication empowers them to not only modernize their technology platforms but also to transform their business models. Our intense focus revolves around delivering the essential technology, capabilities, and skills required for both these endeavors. Through robust partnerships within our deep ecosystem, our goal is to offer comprehensive customer modernization journeys.
We strive to spare our clients from spending excessive time — potentially three to four years or even longer — struggling to overhaul their technology landscape without having the capacity to contemplate new product architectures and business models. Everything we undertake is geared towards facilitating a low-risk approach to modernize their technology platforms, unlocking the potential to construct next-generation product architectures promptly.
Simultaneously, we remain committed to upholding trust, transparency, and fairness in how our clients deliver products and services to their client base.
What are the opportunities and challenges of AI in the fraud prevention and identity verification space? We caught up with Heidi Hunter, Chief Product Officer for IDology, a GBG company, to find out.
IDology delivers a comprehensive suite of identity verification, AML/KYC, and fraud management solutions to help businesses drive revenue, deter fraud, and maintain compliance. Founded in 2003, IDology made its Finovate debut in 2012. GBG acquired the company in 2019.
Ms. Hunter joined GBG Americas in 2011 and has worked in both product innovation and customer success roles during her career with the company. She brings more than 13 years’ experience in supporting customers and helping them with their business needs through product innovation, support, and implementation roles.
Currently, Ms. Hunter is responsible for driving the company’s product roadmap and bringing new innovations to the identity verification market through strategic product development.
AI has brought on challenges and opportunities when it comes to fraud and financial crime. What are the principal challenges financial institutions are facing?
Heidi Hunter: There are four main areas of concern: cybersecurity and fraud, biased models, human oversight, and regulatory compliance.
Deloitte has written on the growing concern of AI as a cybersecurity and fraud threat, noting that 51% of executives interviewed believe that the cybersecurity vulnerabilities of AI are a major concern. One issue is the problem of more and better fake documents. AI will simplify creation of passports, driver’s licenses, and ID cards that are virtually indistinguishable from genuine ones. Another issue here is increased synthetic identity fraud. Generative AI is a productivity tool for fraudsters, creating highly realistic synthetic identities at scale.
Additionally, there is more effective phishing and social engineering. A recent study of 1,000 decision makers found 37% had experienced deepfake voice fraud. And Generative AI is used to fuel a surge in phishing tactics.
You also mentioned biased models, human oversight, and compliance.
Hunter: The use of AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms have come under scrutiny with concerns over data bias, transparency, and accountability. With regard to human oversight, 88% of consumers reported that they would discontinue a helpful personalization service if they didn’t understand how their data would be managed.
Lack of human oversight is also a regulatory concern. AI often lacks transparency, leaving businesses exposed when they must explain their decisioning, which has brought expectations of future regulation. AI-generated deepfakes are moving fast and policymakers can’t keep up.
Can the same technology that’s enabling fraudsters also enable FIs to thwart them?
Hunter: Yes, especially when AI is paired with human intelligence. AI benefits from experts charged with overseeing incoming and outgoing data. A trained fraud analyst accompanying AI-based solutions can catch new and established fraud trends. This includes novel threats that AI solutions on their own may miss.
From a compliance perspective, this means businesses can offer a more transparent solution and manage potential bias. Supervised AI can eliminate the need to manually verify an ID, and help provide the explanation needed for compliance and regulatory requirements.
Automation plays a major role in AI. So does human oversight. Can you talk about the relationship between AI and automation?
Hunter: Automation is typically rule-based and follows predetermined instructions, while AI can learn from data and make decisions based on that data. In other words, automation software operates on a set of predefined rules, while AI can make predictions and decisions based on the data it is presented with. The ‘predictions’ aspect of AI- and ML-based tech is where human supervision plays such an important role.
What is the proper balance between human oversight and AI? What role do humans have in an increasingly AI-powered world?
Hunter: Like with any tool, human-supervised AI is great when it’s one part of a larger identity verification (IDV) strategy.
Humans have a role at every ‘stage’ of AI use or implementation: in development, in terms of what data is being used to train a model; during deployment, where an AI-based tool is used and to what degree; and when it comes to holding AI-based tools accountable. This means analyzing a given output and what decisions a FI makes based on that output.
For identity verification specifically, how has human-supervised AI helped solve problems?
Hunter: Consumers also set the bar high for seamless interactions. For example, 37% of consumers abandoned a digital onboarding process because it was too time-consuming. Overcoming this challenge requires a comprehensive strategy. Human-supervised AI can play a critical role in the process, as it can quickly scrutinize vast volumes of digital data to uncover patterns of suspicious activity while also providing insight and transparency into how decisions are made.
Are businesses embracing human-supervised AI? What hurdles remain to broader adoption?
Hunter: Yes, because while there is a lot of excitement around what AI can do, several businesses and people in the academic community believe AI isn’t ready to make unsupervised decisions. As mentioned earlier, businesses show concern over AI operating on its own. Concerns range from ethical questions, to cybersecurity and fraud risks, to making a bad business decision based on AI. On a positive note, businesses are becoming more aware of benefits of supervised learning models.
Crastorehill is acquiring two Germany-based open banking players, ndgit and Qwist.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Crastorehill has appointed Matt Colebourne as CEO.
Fintech Capital-owned Crastorehillannounced this week it has acquired two German open banking players, ndgit and Qwist (formerly known as finleap). Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Warsaw-based Crastorehill builds data analytics products for financial services. The company’s strategy hinges on acquiring other open banking providers to help enhance its product suite, geographical coverage, as well as its big data and artificial intelligence capabilities.
Crastorehill is making the acquisition in anticipation of the European Union’s pending PSD3 regulation. PSD3 is an advancement of PSD2 and is expected to accelerate the proliferation of open banking based products.
As part of today’s announcement, Crastorehill unveiled it has appointed Matt Colebourne as CEO. Colebourne is Chair of ecommerce technology company Visii and former CEO of Searchmetrics.
“Open standards, in almost any technological or regulated area, create the opportunity to solve previously insoluble problems, to do things faster, more easily and more cheaply,” said Colebourne. “Much as the internet ushered in a previously inconceivable plethora of new ways to interact, transact and research, the rise of open banking will enable new ways to assess risk, verify identity, understand macro-economic behaviour and enable faster, easier interaction for consumers. I’m excited to join Crastorehill at a time when we have the opportunity to lead this transformation and grow.”
FinovateEurope 2024 takes place at the InterContinental O2 London over February 27 and 28.
Those who’ve been to a Finovate know the demos are unique. They are not pitches or presentations. They are seven-minute technology showcases without use of slides, videos, and mockups. They do not happen in the expo or on a stream stage. They are on the main stage during the general session without competing content. This approach delivers the highest ROI to demoers and ensures all attendees can experience the technology and discuss next steps.
There’s a competitive application process to demo at FinovateEurope next February, and the final early-bird deadline is Friday, November 24. When companies apply by this date and are selected, they receive a £1,000 to 2,000 discount on the demo fee.
When reviewing submissions and curating a demo lineup, the Finovate team looks for several things: Technology from across banking and financial services industry; companies ranging in age, size, culture, and geo footprint; recent launches or significant advancements in existing technology; partnership and other media announcements; and, of course, innovation and the competitive landscape.
For selected companies, the demo opportunity at FinovateEurope includes the 7-minutes on stage, a plug and play stand in the expo area over both event days, speaker tickets, lead gen scanning and reports, coaching calls with Finovate’s host and resident expert, and marketing and media exposure.
To move forward, review the online demo details, then submit the confidential application. Applications will be accepted after November 24 but will not receive the early-bird discount.
For companies with female founders, person-of-color founders, or a focus on ESG, check out our demo scholarship program.
Apiture received $10 million in funding, bringing its total raised to $79 million.
The round was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price with participation from existing investors.
Apiture offers credit unions access to a digital banking platform that ties in partnerships with more than 300 fintechs.
Digital banking solutions provider Apiturelanded a $10 million funding round this week. The Venture round was led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price with participation from existing investors Live Oak Bank, Truist Ventures, and Pinnacle Financial Partners. The fresh funds boost Apiture’s total funding to $79 million.
The Wilmington, North Carolina-based company will use the $10 million to accelerate product development initiatives. It will also expand its sales and marketing efforts for its Apiture Digital Banking Platform. Launched last year, the company’s Digital Banking Platform serves more than 300 banks and credit unions.
“Apiture is relentlessly focused on delivering best-in-class digital banking solutions through continuous innovation and integrations with best-of-breed fintechs,” said company CEO Chris Babcock. “This additional funding enables us to further accelerate development initiatives that will help our clients thrive in a highly competitive market.”
Founded in 2017, Apiture helps credit unions compete with larger banks and credit unions when it comes to digital banking experiences. The company’s solutions, which work with more than 40 cores, offer both consumer and commercial banking experiences, along with account opening, embedded banking, and data intelligence tools. Powering these capabilities are Apiture’s network of more than 200 pre-vetted fintech partners, including Glia, Deluxe, MX, Mambu, and DefenseStorm, which signed with Apiture earlier this month.
Acorns is expanding beyond automated savings and investing this week. The California-based company announced the launch of the Mighty Oak Debit Card in partnership with actor Dwayne Johnson.
The new metal payment card is issued by Lincoln Savings Bank or nbkc bank and offers cardholders a few unique features. Not surprisingly, the Mighty Oak Debit Card allows users to round up their purchases to the nearest dollar and invest the spare change with the Real-Time Round-Ups feature. The card also offers paycheck split, which automatically saves and invests a portion of every paycheck on payday.
The card, which doesn’t have any minimum deposit or balance requirements, pays users 3.00% APY on their checking accounts and 5.00% APY on their savings. Users will also have access to Acorns Later, the fintech’s IRA retirement savings tool, as well as investment rewards earned on everyday purchases and access to 55,000 fee-free ATMs.
Dwayne Johnson is not only a celebrity sponsor, but he is also an investor in Acorns Grow Incorporated and is a director of its affiliate Acorns Labs, LLC.
“I’m personally invested in helping and rooting for people to achieve financial stability and success,” said Johnson. “I’ve worked with Acorns to create a one of a kind card that makes it easy for people to prioritize saving and investing so they can build a solid foundation for their future. I’ve been there, and know what it’s like to count every dollar and save every cent possible to provide for my family and myself. I wish I had the Mighty Oak card back in the struggling and fun days when I had only $7 bucks in my pocket, which is why I helped create this card now to empower people to take control of their financial well-being.”
The Mighty Oak Debit Card is available starting today for users in the $5 per month and $9 per month subscription tiers. Acorns is promoting the card by giving away $50,000 to seven cardholders.
Iceland-based Landsbankinn has selected Meniga to help it offer open banking amenities to its customers.
With Meniga’s help, the bank will offer both Payment Initiation Services and an Aggregation Service.
Meniga is calling the offerings a “breakthrough” when it comes to open banking developments in Iceland.
Iceland’s largest bank, Landsbankinn, is embracing open banking in its newest partnership with Meniga. The bank has tapped the digital banking platform to offer Payment Initiation Services (PIS) and an Aggregation Service (AIS).
The PIS will help the bank’s customers initiate funds transfers to other Icelandic banks without having to leave the Landsbankinn app. With the AIS, customers can use the bank’s app to see an aggregated view of their accounts across other banks in Iceland. Since the AIS places all of a customer’s financial information in one location, it makes it easier for them to manage their finances.
“By collaborating with Meniga, we are not only simplifying and enhancing the banking experience for our customers but also contributing to the modernization of banking in Iceland,” said Landsbankinn CEO Lilja Björk Einarsdóttir. “The launch of PSD2/Open Banking services reinforces our commitment to delivering the best financial solutions and options to our customers.”
Introducing Icelandic citizens to open banking seems like a big step for such a small nation. However, Iceland has a leg up over other regions because of its small size. The country has only three commercial bank and one investment bank, making it easier for all banks to agree on a communication protocol.
Meniga notes Landsbankinn’s offerings as a “breakthrough” when it comes to open banking developments in Iceland. Björk Einarsdóttir agrees. “We are excited to offer our customers these innovative services, which mark a pivotal moment in the Icelandic banking industry,” she said.
London-based Meniga, which was originally headquartered in Iceland, said that the partnership broadens its global reach. The fintech was founded in 2009 and powers banking apps for more than 165 banks across the globe, reaching more than 90 million people in 30+ countries. Among Meniga’s other offerings are tools such as data management, PFM, and cashflow analysis; as well as cashback rewards, carbon footprint tracking, and market insights.
Meniga’s current CEO Raj Soni took the reins from Simon Shorthose last year. Shorthose was brought in in August of 2022 to replace Co-founder Georg Ludviksson, who had served as CEO for 14 years.
The bank uses the hub to guide customers through financial topics and recommend products.
The launch comes after two standalone PFM tools have recently shut down.
BMOrevealed this week it has launched personal financial management tools for its clients. The digital resource, called the Real Financial Progress Hub, will offer personal finance advice, tools, and resources to help customers reach their financial goals.
“For the first time, our customers can explore any financial goal and even multiple goals at once – whether it’s budgeting, saving, homebuying, retiring, building credit and more – from one easy-to-navigate digital platform. We have brought all of our personal finance resources into one convenient spot to make financial progress easier,” said BMO Head of U.S. Customer Strategy Paul Dilda. “As we welcome new customers across the Western United States to BMO, we are proud to bring them our innovative products and services that were built with customers’ progress in mind.”
Among the tools available are expense management education, monthly expense tracking, advice for planning larger purchases, and tools to help users understand credit. The Real Financial Progress Hub offers BMO a channel to promote its own accounts, products, and services to less financially savvy customers while acting as a financial guide.
The launch comes at an interesting time. Two independent PFM sites have shut down so far this month, indicating a lack of consumer interest for standalone budgeting tools.
However, just because consumers don’t want to think about budgeting, doesn’t mean they shouldn’t. Consumers are digging into their savings are leveraging credit at higher rates than before, and according to CNBC, Gen Z consumers are less into retiring early and more into what they call “soft saving.”
BMO’s free tool is currently live and available to its digital banking users.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping are meeting in California this week. With that in mind, Finovate Global turns to China for the latest fintech news from the world’s second most populous country.
For context, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) released its Fintech Development Plan for 2022-2025 almost two years ago. In its analysis of the PBOC’s Plan, China Briefing noted that the country had “much to gain” from innovation in fintech and financial services. In large part this was because of China’s “insufficient supply of inclusive finance, especially in rural areas.” The country reached a consumer fintech adoption rate of 87% in 2019. And, again, further fintech adoption in rural areas could cause this rate to quickly climb even higher.
What obstacles confront China’s fintech sector? China Briefing suggests that “unbalanced application of intelligent technology” is among the issues to be resolved – or at least better managed. The report references the so-called “Matthew Effect” in which stronger positions become stronger and weaker positions become weaker to describe the one of China’s bigger challenges when it comes to innovation in financial services.
Read the report from China Briefing to learn more about how China plans to “leapfrog improvement of the fintech sector”.
China’s JD.com launched its enhanced authentication solution for imported goods in the region, JD Smart Check. The new process is part of the company’s cross-border e-commerce platform, JD Worldwide.
JD Smart Check has three main focuses: improving quality inspections for cosmetic products, leveraging blockchain technology to enhance anti-counterfeiting activity, and providing on-demand authenticity inspections for products shipped by direct mail. New X-ray fluorescence analysis to provides fast, on-site assessment of cosmetics and personal care products at JD’s logistic centers. With regards to anti-counterfeiting efforts, the company leverages serialized tracking codes, supply chain monitoring, and product inspection videos to ensure accurate scrutiny of inventories. Lastly, JD Worldwide will be able to better serve direct mail shoppers by adding reports from authoritative centers to its product inspection services.
China’s largest retailer by revenue, JD.com serves nearly 600 million customers. The company operates the largest fulfillment infrastructure for any Chinese e-commerce firm.
Ant Group has forged a partnership with Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet). The partnership will enable travelers from eight nations – representing eight different supported digital wallets – to use PayNet’s DuitNow QR in Malaysia.
The DuitNow QR network consists of more than 1.8 million merchant touchpoints throughout Malaysia. The eight supported wallets are Alipay (China), AlipayHK (Hong Kong SAR), HelloMoney by AUB (Philippines), Hipay (Mongolia), MPay (Macau SAR), Naver Pay (Japan), Toss Pay (South Korea) and True Money (Thailand). Group CEO of PayNet Farhan Ahmad said that the cross-border digital payments collaboration with Ant Group signified “a new Silk Road emerging” that will be “powered by cross-border payment functionality.”
The Ant Group/PayNet partnership comes as a recent report commissioned by Alipay indicates that increases in average consumer spending over the past few years will help accelerate intra-Asia cross-border travel and payments. The companies noted that the partnership extends “beyond connectivity” to include joint marketing efforts that will boost merchant and brand visibility in digital wallets.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
OakNorth announced the Beta launch of its business banking tools to serve medium-sized businesses.
The neobank is taking a high-touch approach by assigning an OakNorth team member to understand each client’s business and bring them the specific set of tools they need.
OakNorth calls itself, “the neobank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs.”
U.K.-based neobank OakNorthannounced the Beta launch of its business banking offering this week. The tools are specifically aimed to serve mid-sized businesses in sectors that traditional lenders often overlook.
With its current offerings, OakNorth underwrites risk on these underserved businesses by leveraging commercial loan data that covers over 270 industries. This data-driven approach allows the company to serve a wider range of sectors and subsectors than traditional banks tend to serve.
OakNorth’s new business banking tools target the underserved group with a high-touch approach that will offer a simplified list of products and services suited to each business’ needs. To do this, the company will assign an OakNorth employee to engage with a business’ founders, CFOs, CEOs, and directors to understand their business and assess features that best suit the client. The aim of this approach is to eliminate noise caused by irrelevant products and features while offering the ability to scale as the business grows.
“OakNorth’s mission is to serve and empower businesses in the Missing Middle, ensuring each and every one of them has the right tools, insights, and support at every stage of their growth journey with us,” said OakNorth Co-founder and CEO Rishi Khosla. “We know from the last eight years of serving our customers that they don’t feel their banking needs are being met by incumbents or other neobanks. They continue to be overlooked and underserved, despite the significant contribution they make to the economy and local communities in terms of productivity, innovation, job creation, and GDP growth. Given ongoing economic challenges, it is essential that these businesses have the right banking partner to support them, and we are excited to step up to fill this need.”
OakNorth was launched in 2015 and calls itself, “the neobank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs.” The U.K.-based company has raised $1 billion across nine rounds of funding. OakNorth’s most recent equity round took place in 2019 when it received $440 million in a round led by Softbank Vision Fund.
With FinovateFall in the books, and FinovateEurope right around the corner, our Streamly Video Series is a great way to keep the conversation going between conferences!
This week, we feature three interviews from some of FinovateFall’s keynote speakers: Jacqueline Baker, Principal Consultant and Founder of Scarlet; and authors Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic; and Tommaso Di Bartolo, experts on AI and the multiverse, respectively.
Jacqueline Baker: How to Empower the Leader Within You
Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic: The Human-AI Relationship of the Future
Tommaso Di Bartolo: Living La Vida Metaverse – Are You Ready to Be Immersed?
