#WomeninFinTech

Elevating the Banking Experience for All: Our Conversation with Sarah Murray of Compliance Systems

Elevating the Banking Experience for All: Our Conversation with Sarah Murray of Compliance Systems
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Interview, Speaker series, Women in Fintech

One of the areas of fintech that has benefitted significantly from the rise of enabling technologies like AI and machine learning is compliance. From reducing the role of manual labor via automation to streamlining complex processes to make rules easier for companies to follow, both regtech firms and compliance teams alike play a major role in ensuring the fintech innovations we enjoy are safe, do what they say they’ll do, and are as available to as many eligible consumers as possible.

We caught up with Sarah Murray, who leads the Deposit Product Team at Compliance Systems. She talked about the impact technology is having on the field of compliance, and discussed the key challenges that Compliance Systems is helping its 1,800 financial institution clients overcome.

How did you get started in fintech? What has led you to where you are today in your career?

Sarah Murray: Before fintech, I was practicing law in private practice, and I just knew I was ready to be out of the courtroom and do something different with my legal career. I started at Compliance Systems eight years ago as a product specialist and counsel; now I am happy to have led the product team for the last five years. I love my job because no two days are the same. I never thought I would spend some days researching legal topics and reviewing regulations, and other days reviewing code and testing software, but I love the challenge each day brings.

Tell us about the work you do for Compliance Systems.

Murray: I lead our deposit product team at Compliance Systems, which consists of attorneys, business analysts, software developers, and quality control specialists who all work toward the common goal of delivering compliant and innovative products to our 1,800 financial institution clients. I love the mixture of technology with the law and getting to keep my legal hat that I went to school for by delivering compliance solutions through technology to our clients.

What are your thoughts on the way technology is helping companies keep up with the changing regulatory environment?

Murray: Overall, I think it’s the job of technology to streamline and simplify, regardless of which industry we’re talking about. In the case of fintech and regulatory compliance, that means automating repetitive and high-risk compliance processes. It also means demystifying regulations where we can for the benefit of the consumers that those regulations are intended to protect.

Our proprietary research engine tool enables us to provide proactive and update-to-date compliance, and our team is constantly monitoring and tracking what is happening in the legal and regulatory spaces in real-time to ensure we can deliver timely compliance solutions to our clients. Our software provides updates through our cloud-hosted solutions, and our compliance safety net tool also provides interactive features that help our clients complete compliant transactions and provide a better level of customer service.

How has this evolved and how do you see it continuing to evolve leading into 2023?

Murray: The market has evolved through financial institutions rethinking compliance and needing to deliver a solution that meets their customers [and] members where they are: on their phones. We deliver compliance in a way that makes sense in a mobile-first environment and develop content with that in mind. This model isn’t necessarily what financial institutions are used to, but it is what customers [and] members strongly prefer: easily navigable, mobile-friendly content.

Financial institutions are telling us they want a single, streamlined approach for a customer, regardless of the channel (e.g. whether it be in branch or online). So, we’ve created a solution that satisfies the requests of both parties. You can open accounts through the same process as you would in a branch location, but on a mobile device with ease.

What challenges are you hearing in conversations with clients? What technologies are resonating most? 

Murray: Our Simplicity Mobile, a mobile-first account opening solution, has been highly successful because it has helped address some of the main pain points for our clients. They communicated that they are looking to have a more streamlined, efficient, and consumer-friendly workflow to open accounts and to reduce friction in that process to avoid abandonment. This solution completed that challenge by offering native HTML content that a financial institution can include within their account opening workflow, and by supporting “click to sign” functionality.

Another challenge we are hearing from clients involves their treasury management solutions. Treasury management operations are a vital component of a bank or credit union’s commercial services, but the content needed to properly document this business can require costly outside counsel or consume internal resources that put a strain on operations. Also, financial institutions are looking for a better, more streamlined way to sign up their customers for their treasury services. They don’t want to have to create and maintain separate contracts for each treasury service and are looking to avoid inundating customers with multiple contracts and documents.

Our delivery model ensures that our clients will always be in compliance and our technology delivers the configurability needed for a treasury management solution, as many aren’t looking for a “one size fits all” fix. Our solution helps minimize operational and compliance risks for our clients while also providing a central hub for all compliance-related updates and content within our solution. Furthermore, our solution offers one master services agreement for treasury services to help improve a customer’s enrollment experience.

Are there any tips you would like to share on providing strong leadership in a male-dominated industry?

Murray: A few tips I have are to be passionate about what you do and work with integrity; work hard to deliver what you say you will do when you say you will do it; don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo and be an advocate for yourself and others. A big thing at Compliance Systems is that we believe in reinvesting in our products based on what we have learned from our clients and the industry. I would say it is important to have that mentality yourself as you grow. Learn from mistakes. Learn from what works. Learn from your colleagues and clients. Together as an industry, we can elevate the banking experience for all.

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Creating a Clear Path to Innovation: Our Conversation with ASA Chief Strategy Officer Lisa Gold Schier

Creating a Clear Path to Innovation: Our Conversation with ASA Chief Strategy Officer Lisa Gold Schier
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: ASA, Speaker series, Women in Fintech

From Open Banking to Embedded Finance, there are more ways than ever for financial institutions and financial services providers to embrace digital technology and bring better, more personalized, and easier to use financial products to market.

One company that is playing a role in helping businesses make the most of the latest innovations in financial technology is ASA. The company, headquartered in Utah and making its Finovate debut last year at FinovateFall, facilitates collaborations between financial institutions and fintechs. An embedded solution, ASA’s technology helps community banks and credit unions offer their customers the same quality of innovative digital services offered by their larger rivals.

We caught up with Lisa Gold Schier, Chief Strategy Officer with ASA, to talk about the opportunity of collaborative banking, how to make bank/fintech partnerships work, and what financial institutions are focused on right now.

Tell me about your time in the industry and your new role at ASA. Why did you make the switch from banking to fintech?

Lisa Gold Schier: I started my financial services career with a bank, then worked with banks and fintechs. However, I had never worked directly for a fintech. Prior to joining ASA, I served as a leader at the American Bankers Association (ABA), where I led product evaluation and served as a strategic advisor to bankers, technology providers, and consultants across areas such as technology trends, digital transformation, and the customer experience. I helped establish and spearhead the only industry committee focused on guiding strategic direction for industry innovation with an emphasis on bank/technology partnerships and core processor engagement.

I evaluated hundreds of fintech solutions during my years at ABA. When I discovered ASA, I knew it was something unique. I realized ASA’s technology and framework changes and improves how financial institutions, fintechs, and customers access technology and work together. By joining the team, I help financial institutions and fintechs meet the needs of their account holders. I am now Chief Strategy Officer at ASA, driving the strategy of collaborative banking and creating a clear path to innovation, scale, and customer financial empowerment through embedded fintech.

Who is ASA and what is collaborative banking? What makes it different than Open Banking or Banking as a Service?

Schier: While OpenBanking and Banking as a Service each have their place in the market, challenges exist with each. Banking as a Service requires fintechs to jump through regulatory hoops and open banking puts banks and fintechs against each other in competition for customers’ finances. Collaborative banking, on the other hand, is a model that allows financial institutions and fintechs to work together, sharing revenue and business opportunities. Collaborative banking takes the spirit of open banking and mitigates the pitfalls, allowing institutions and fintechs to partner in a mutually beneficial way by removing the regulatory risk traditionally associated with partnerships.

ASA, the pioneer of collaborative banking, is an embedded fintech solution that connects financial institutions with customer-facing fintechs in a secure, compliant, and easy to implement marketplace, powering growth and opportunity for all. Account holders select and instantly download the apps that meet their individual needs, and link their accounts without giving the fintech access to any personal information. With ASA and collaborative banking, financial institutions are the hub of financial choice, maintaining the account holder relationship and providing financial empowerment through individualized choice.

Lisa Gold Schier introducing ASA’s demo at FinovateFall 2022 in New York.

What challenges have traditionally made bank/fintech partnerships difficult, and how is the ASA model helping to overcome them?

Schier: There are many challenges, some of the largest include developing an innovation strategy and the team to implement and follow through, researching and vetting all the fintechs and determining which ones will solve the majority of customers’ needs, contracts, core integrations, and balancing innovation with liability and risk. These roadblocks can be especially challenging for community institutions, who lack the large tech budgets of regional and national players.

ASA addresses these issues by acting as a single integration point between financial institutions and fintechs, either through the institution’s core, online provider, or data aggregator. Fintechs never interface with institution’s core, and ASA normalizes, tokenizes, and anonymizes customer PII data, ensuring fintechs can’t access personal accountholder data.

By solving the one-to-one integration pain point, ASA is enabling personalization at scale by allowing customers to choose and download the niche apps they crave without diluting the relationship with the bank or credit union. ASA creates a trusted closed network between financial institutions and fintechs, making partnerships easier, more affordable, and more secure than ever before.

How do you mentor and support women in the industry?

Schier: I strongly believe in having diverse views around the table, and part of doing so means proactively seeking out those different perspectives. This often looks like creating networks, whether within my organization or within the industry, and then supporting each other. It’s important to foster relationships with junior and senior women and share advice and insights.

I also support women through social media and speaking opportunities, looking at and creating diversity in promotional and advertising materials. It’s disappointing to see panels and conference sessions that lack diversity. So, when I am working with conference coordinators, I make it a priority to seek diverse representation, which includes recommending industry leaders and women that may not be tied in with the conference circuit. This also includes working with and supporting diverse communities. Since so many have supported me, I want to continue to give back to the industry.

What is top of mind for financial institutions and fintechs now and over the next 12 months?

Schier: To quote Ron Shevlin, our industry is at a hard fork in the road, and it’s critical for banks and credit unions to move toward the collaborative future of banking. Doing so will enable them to keep up with all of the new technology apps, grow business, and remain relevant. Financial institutions and fintechs that embrace embedded fintech and lean into secure consumer choice, providing consumers with more authority over who has access to their data and under what circumstances, will gain a strong competitive advantage. Moving forward, financial institutions and fintechs should prepare to embrace self-sovereign identities more fully, enabling consumer ownership of their data in new, innovative ways.

Customers increasingly need easier, quicker access to a range of financial education and wellness resources, especially given current market volatility. Those financial institutions that proactively offer more choice, providing customers with simpler, more secure, wider access to the tools needed to develop their financial health and education, will be well positioned to promote financial empowerment and equity.

Photo by Genine Alyssa Pedreno-Andrada

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Ladies First: Finovate Showcases Women in Fintech at FinovateFall

Ladies First: Finovate Showcases Women in Fintech at FinovateFall
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Diversity in Fintech, FinovateFall 2022, Women in Fintech

Yesterday we shared the announcement that FinovateFall 2022 is on track to be our biggest event to date. Today we have great news from the other side of the Finovate stage: fully 50% of the speakers at FinovateFall in New York next month will be women.

“This definitely contributes to our DEI initiatives and effort to inject diversity into our events and portfolio as a whole,” Finovate Brand Strategy Director Adela Knox said.

Here are just a few of the women who will share their insights into fintech and the future of financial services at FinovateFall, September 12 through 14.

Remember that early-bird savings for FinovateFall 2022 end soon! Be sure to stop by the FinovateFall registration hub today to take advantage of special discounted ticket prices through Friday, September 2nd.

SC Moatti

SC Moatti will deliver a keynote address titled: Winter Is Coming: Now’s the Time to Hire That Chief Product Officer. Moatti is the founding Managing Partner of Mighty Capital; and the founding CEO of product acceleration platform, Products That Count.

In her address, Moatti will explain the consequences of not heeding the “product call” and why, if there’s one role companies should keep on their list of new hires this season, then it should be a Chief Product Officer.

As part of FinovateFall’s Payments stream, Wells Fargo Head of Enterprise Payments Ulrike Guigui will give a keynote address, Has the Pandemic Changed Payments Forever? 90% of Bank’s Useful Customer Data Comes from Payments – How Can They Ensure They Stay in the Game?

Alyson Clarke

Also in our Payments stream, Bernadette Ksepka, AVP and Deputy Head of Product Development, FedNowSM Service, Federal Reserve System, will sit down with PayGen co-founder and Chief Product Officer Robin LoGiudice to discuss The Continued Evolution of Faster, Cheaper, and Better Payments – Where Next with Instant Payments.

Alyson Clarke, Principal Analyst with Forrester, will deliver a keynote address titled Hybrid Banking – Why the Future is a Blend of Physical and Digital, as part of our Customer Experience stream.

Also in our Customer Experience stream, Symend co-founder and Chief Impact Officer Tiffany Kaminsky will share her insights in an address titled Upping the Ante: Using the Science of Decision-Making for Effective Customer Engagement.

Photo by olia danilevich

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Building Financial Inclusion: Elizabeth McCluskey, Director of the Discovery Fund at CMFG Ventures

Building Financial Inclusion: Elizabeth McCluskey, Director of the Discovery Fund at CMFG Ventures
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Diversity in Fintech, Interview, Speaker series, Women in Fintech

What is venture capital doing to help promote fintech innovators who come from underrepresented groups and communities?

We caught up with Elizabeth McCluskey, Director of The Discovery Fund at CMFG Ventures, to talk about her work in supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs that are building solutions to drive financial inclusion.

We discussed her own extensive experience in financial services, working in both investment banking and wealth management before moving to venture capital. We also learned why she believes it is important to invest in female founders and founders from communities that are underserved by traditional financial institutions.

Why did you decide to transition from investment banking and wealth management to venture capital? What do you enjoy about working at a venture capital firm?

Elizabeth McCluskey: Investment banking is transactional. I enjoyed being part of transformational deals for companies but missed being there for the long-term impact. When I pivoted to wealth management, I was able to develop more longevity in client relationships, but the investments were focused on public equities with which I had minimal connection. These experiences led me to find the ideal balance in venture capital. Now I can build more intimate relationships with portfolio companies and invest in people and ideas that are meaningful and important to me. It brings joy and satisfaction to support their long-term growth and success.

Tell me more about your current role at CMFG Ventures and the Discovery Fund.

McCluskey: CMFG Ventures is the venture capital arm of CUNA Mutual Group. CMFG Ventures invests in fintechs to help financial institutions grow and provide a brighter financial future for all. The firm adds value to fintechs by leveraging its well-established network of over 6,000 financial institutions and suite of complimentary technology solutions. Since 2016, CMFG Ventures has invested in nearly 50 fintech companies and its Discovery Fund has invested in 14 additional early-stage companies led by BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and women founders.

I am the director of the Discovery Fund. The Discovery Fund was created to support underrepresented entrepreneurs who are building solutions for financial inclusion. We plan to invest $15 million over the next three years in early-stage fintech companies. Through my role, I’m able to see the full scope of venture capital investing, including but not limited to:

  • Sourcing deals and meeting entrepreneurs
    • Conducting due diligence
    • Negotiating the terms of the deal
    • Providing long-term support for entrepreneurs’ journeys by helping them scale, network, and find the resources they need to continue to succeed.

Why is it important to invest in diverse founders, especially women-led businesses? And what qualities you look for when investing in these companies?

McCluskey: Women entrepreneurs receive less than 3% of venture capital funding. This staggering number demands that we take a step back and focus on supporting diverse founders, especially women-led businesses, to improve equity in the venture capital space. This is not just the right thing to do – it’s good business. A 2018 BCG study concluded that women-founded businesses yielded two times as much revenue per dollar invested as those founded by men.

Women and diverse founders who have been historically underserved by traditional financial services are working hard to create the financial inclusion they wish they had. We are investing in entrepreneurs like them who are deeply connected to the problems they’re solving. Empowering underrepresented leaders is already creating new opportunities for liquidity management, wealth management, credit access, asset protection, and more.

Can you share more about the women-led businesses that CMFG Ventures invests in and supports? How are they helping make the financial services industry more inclusive?

McCluskey: CMFG Ventures has made investments in multiple women-led companies, such as The Beans, Climb, Caribou, and Frich to help the financial services industry become more inclusive.

  • The Beans simplifies the path to financial balance through evidence-based design and cutting-edge technology, so consumers stress less about money and focus on what they love.
  • Climb is a student lending and payments platform intended to make career education more affordable and accessible.
  • Caribou enables financial advisers to engage their clients in healthcare planning to support life transitions and build stronger financial futures.
  • Frich makes money social. It helps Gen Z develop better financial habits leveraging the power of community and benchmarking.

These female-driven fintechs are transforming the financial services space and improving the financial lives of everyday Americans.

What advice do you typically share with women founders? What about those looking to break into the VC space?

McCluskey: I would give the same advice to women founders as I do with men: always ask for feedback, especially to better understand why someone is telling them “no”. Founders who send updates over time allow me to track their progress, including growth and consistency of their business plans. In several cases, I’ve ended up investing in companies that I passed on in earlier rounds. And even if someone says “no” to doing business together, they can still be a valuable ally. Attempt to stay in touch and leverage their networks. People are often willing to share their connections and provide valuable guidance.

As for those looking to break into the VC space, I believe it is slowly becoming more inclusive and representative, yet it is still a very network-based profession. Similar to my advice for entrepreneurs, start with one person you know (or cold outreach via alumni networks, common interest groups, etc.). From there, ask every person you talk to for an introduction to at least one other person. Focus on growing your network with the goal of building genuine relationships, not necessarily getting a job right away. This is a long-term investment in your career.

We’re more than halfway through the 2022, what do you predict for the rest of the year?

McCluskey: After record levels of investments in 2021, we all knew things had to cool off. However, I believe the pace at which this has happened surprised VCs and entrepreneurs alike.

In fact, startup funding has fallen by 23% over the last 3 months, bringing us back to 2019 levels. For many, it probably feels like the sky is falling, but there is still a significant amount of money in circulation. Venture capitalists today, and by extension founders, are more focused on “real” metrics versus vanity metrics when deciding which companies to fund. The companies that will do well in the second half of the year will have measurable revenues, not just wait lists, and will be managing costs and runway to drive profitability, not endless cash burn.

Photo by Dom J

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Innovation in a Risk Management Business: A Conversation with Piermont Bank Founder and CEO Wendy Cai-Lee

Innovation in a Risk Management Business: A Conversation with Piermont Bank Founder and CEO Wendy Cai-Lee
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: CEO Interview, FinovateSpring 2022, Interview, Speaker series, Women in Fintech

FinovateSpring provided us with a great opportunity to sit down for an informative chat with Wendy Cai-Lee, founder and CEO of Piermont Bank.

Launched in 2019, Piermont Bank aims to blend the best of modern banking and agile fintech. Piermont Bank’s peer banking approach provides customers with technology-enabled, human-delivered solutions, opting for dedicated bankers over “1-800 numbers or chatbots.”

Last month, Piermont Bank celebrated three years of innovation. The woman-founded and entrepreneur-led financial institution currently has more than $420 million in total assets, and offers an end-to-end, digital banking-as-a-service platform with more than 40 fintech clients already onboard. More than 50% of Piermont’s loans since inception have been made to low- and moderate-income communities, as well as women- and minority-owned businesses.

Below are a few excerpts from our conversation with Ms. Cai-Lee at FinovateSpring in San Francisco in May.

On the decision to launch Piermont Bank

The genesis of building Piermont was actually really simple. A lot of entrepreneurs would tell you they had this grand vision. For me, it was actually just very two practical reasons. The first was seeing the impact and the speed of impact that fintechs were making on consumer banking … The second reason was: I’ve been in banking for 26, 27 years. (And I’ve seen) the same pain points repeatedly from both the customer (side) as well as internally as an operator … So basically I said, “Okay if I could start with a blank slate, how would I build this? How would I build a fully digital-native, totally tech-enabled bank to do commercial banking faster and more efficiently?

On the evolution of financial services in recent years

My industry, historically, doesn’t change. It doesn’t go that fast. These days, I say that if the CEO is still working off their three-year strategic plan, if it’s in their third year, the board should fire that person. I mean, are you still even relevant in terms of your products (or) the way that you’re delivering these products? So I think the biggest change is just the speed, the speed of change, the speed of innovation.

I was taught and it’s still true banking is a risk management business. So it’s a little bit counter-intuitive if you think about it, this so-called “innovation.” But you absolutely can innovate in a risk management business.

On the advancement of women into leadership roles in financial services

I find myself able to make the biggest impact in the day-to-day: hiring based truly on skill sets and meritocracy, being gender-blind, age-blind … I know that sounds weird but, as an executive, as somebody who is doing the hiring, as somebody who’s doing the promotion, if I can just say, is this person the best person for the job? That’s more than half the game. I know that doesn’t sound very inspiring or trailblazing, but it is actually the day-to-day that makes a huge difference. Empower women, give them the job opportunity, give them the opportunity to rise to the occasion. That’s how we get there.

Check out the complete interview on FinovateTV.

Photo by Alex Azabache

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Women in Fintech: Leveraging New Technologies to Expand Access to Financial Advice

Women in Fintech: Leveraging New Technologies to Expand Access to Financial Advice
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Diversity in Fintech, Women in Fintech

How does technology help financial advisors do their jobs better? What does it mean to be “customer-focused” when it comes to financial health? And how does an organization successfully pursue a commitment to financial inclusion as a company, while simultaneously supporting and reinforcing a commitment to diversity, equality, and inclusion within a company?

We talked with Christina Walls, Chief Marketing Officer of intelliflo, about intelliflo’s evolution into a comprehensive digital investment platform. We also discussed the firm’s determination to help its clients leverage technology to reach more customers from more diverse backgrounds and investment sophistication levels. Toward the end of our conversation, we talked about the key role of equality in the diversity and inclusion conversation, and what can be done to bring more women into leadership roles within fintech and financial services.

Why was intelliflo formed a year ago? What is the strategy behind the combined company brand?

Christina Walls: What makes what we’re doing at intelliflo so exciting is how we’re addressing the challenges that financial advisors around the world have using technology to expand access to advice. That’s why our parent company, Invesco, combined five digital wealth companies into a single, API-driven platform – intelliflo – so we can offer financial advisors a holistic digital platform designed to serve investors throughout the entire advisory lifecycle. Our technology delivers the digital tools financial advisors need to better serve modern investors and widen access to financial advice.

What was your role in bringing together the five previously separate companies and modernizing the marketing function?

Walls: Validating the opportunity for five companies to come together as one new global brand, culture, and market proposition in the U.S., U.K., and Australia was the first step. Next, the marketing team built a modern, omni-channel marketing function that delivers against global and local business needs. We focused on training colleagues for new jobs and recruiting talent We also embedded new processes and a MarTech stack including sales enablement and CX/EX listening platforms that align with our modern, 360, digital CX/EX experience mindset versus traditional marketing funnel acquisition methodology.

Our new global brand is bold, personable, and challenges the status-quo. The experiences we deliver for all consumers of our brand – colleagues, clients, or partners – need to “feel” different. Every decision we made underpins our business purpose and strategy. The new marketing function was repositioned from previously reactive and tactical to a strategic, commercial, and customer-focused partner for the business.

What were some of your biggest challenges and successes during this project?

Walls: The biggest success is seeing our efforts help advisors grow and improve their clients’ financial health. Advisors are increasingly challenged to accomplish more with less resources; they need open, digital, and cloud-based technology to serve clients of all ages and sophistication levels. With intelliflo, advisors can meet clients where they are, including across digital channels, providing a personalized experience with greater collaboration and communication.

Since March 2021, we have seen increases across all marketing metrics. For example, one omni-channel solution campaign led to a 73% rise in sales YOY in January 2022.

The biggest challenge was planning and executing a new global brand launch during the pandemic and virtually building a new marketing function, business culture, and relationships. I’m so appreciative of the hard work of all my colleagues at intelliflo, who are passionate, proud, and dedicated to our business purpose; without them we wouldn’t be where we are now.

Why did you help intelliflo evolve from D&I to DEI?

Walls: In today’s world, diversity and inclusion can’t work without equality. Companies with D&I policies do a great job of recruiting people from diverse backgrounds, welcoming and celebrating those differences, and making them feel included in the organization, but with all evolution comes revolution.

At intelliflo, our culture relies on ensuring every colleague, regardless of their background, race, gender, etc. is included, has an equal share of voice, and is confident to challenge any level of seniority of the business for the greater good of delivering our business purpose – widening access to financial advice. We must all focus on equality; it is the critical bridge between diversity and inclusion.

As part of our newly created employee value proposition and DEI focus, we’ve recently formed a DEI ally network. We are dedicated to educating colleagues and building greater awareness for all colleagues, customers, clients, partners, industries, and communities, from the inside out.

What more do you think can be done to support women in fintech?

Walls: Progress has been made, but there’s still much work to be done. This isn’t just about delivering a gender metric. For the industry to change we need to highlight the value women bring, especially when it comes to diversity of thought. We should increase access to funding for women-led fintechs, hire more women at all levels of the business, widen access to professional networks in the industry, implement more policies, and continue reporting gender equality metrics, like the pay gap.

Male allies are also important. I’m fortunate to have many male allies at both intelliflo and Invesco and am personally dedicated to continuing the great work all genders have pushed forward in advocating women and removing biases for future generations to forge a gender equal world.

Gender is only one example of equality. Many other traditionally underrepresented groups also need a voice. We must hold ourselves and each other accountable to eradicate these biases and promote greater DEI for everyone.

Photo by George Milton

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Leveling Up Global Payments: A Conversation with Vivienne Hsu of Sokin

Leveling Up Global Payments: A Conversation with Vivienne Hsu of Sokin
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Interview, Women in Fintech

We recently caught up with Vivienne Hsu, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer with Sokin, a U.K.-based, global financial service provider and payments company. Originally slated for our Women’s History Month commemoration, our conversation includes both Hsu’s thoughts on “the State of Women in Fintech” and gender diversity in the industry, as well as her insights on Sokin, its contributions to fintech innovation, and what we can expect from the company in the future.

Joining Sokin in 2021, Hsu was previously co-founder and Partner at Anabasis Partners, an international marketing and communications advisory firm. Before that, Hsu spent more than seven years as an executive with Cognito, a London-based PR, marketing, and communications agency.

Can you tell us a little about Sokin and its place in the fintech industry?

Hsu: Sokin is a global payments fintech that is the first to offer a consumer subscription model for unlimited transfers for a fixed fee. We believe in straightforward, transparent currency exchange and money transfers and allowing as many people and businesses to have access to the global payments ecosystem. We are ethically conscious and focused on the positive impact we can have as a business, putting financial inclusivity and eco-friendly innovation centrally to our purpose while working to democratize and simplify the global payments process.

How long have you worked at Sokin? What do you enjoy most about being a part of its leadership team?

Hsu: I’ve been with Sokin since January 2021 and enjoy being part of a very fast-paced business that is constantly growing, innovating, and evolving. I’m surrounded by hard-working and exceptionally talented people where I continue to learn so much. The leadership team is experienced, grounded, and strategic, but also fun which makes being part of it such a privilege.

What are the biggest responsibilities you have as CCMO? Are there any accomplishments as Sokin’s CCMO that you are most proud of?

Hsu: The biggest responsibilities I have as CCMO is to build the Sokin brand and keep our name front-of-mind within the global payments and innovation industry. We have an incredible story to tell – one that really holds people at its heart – and great products and services to get out to market with.

I’m immensely proud of the team we have built and how quickly we have managed to scale the Sokin brand globally. We’ve nurtured our flourishing sports club partnerships very effectively and continue to enter new markets at pace with an extremely exciting proposition.

How has the pandemic impacted the work you do as CCMO? 

Hsu: The global pandemic changed how we work, but not what we need to do to deliver it. If anything, the change in working environment has forced us to innovate and collaborate in new and diverse ways. For example, as a global organization with a workforce across the world, we do not let time zones or geographies hold back progress.

Being able to build a good team culture and the creative spark is the only area which has been harder to achieve as our people are not always together. But overall, it’s not negatively impacted my role or the work we do at Sokin.

How would you characterize the “State of Women in Fintech and Financial Services” in 2022?

Hsu: The industry has improved, but there is still a lot of work to do. When I started out, it was not uncommon for only one or two women to have a seat in the boardroom. This, of course, has changed due to a shift in workplace attitudes and, as a result, we are seeing more women than ever moving up the ladder. However, this must only be seen as the beginning. It’s still not an equal men-to-women ratio, but it’s getting better.

Evidently, more attention and emphasis have been placed on supporting women in the finance industry over the years. I have seen more female leaders and experts working in finance and fintech compared to 10 years ago. It’s wonderful to see the glass ceiling starting to crack and I hope it grows in momentum.

What do you think the industry is doing right in terms of promoting gender diversity? What do we need to do better?

Hsu: I think fintech and financial services are having the conversation and pushing the agenda for gender diversity, which is really the first step. We need to get to a point where equality is part of a natural and organic system, not a forced issue as it is now – much like a box to tick.

I hope in the coming years we will not have to talk about gender diversity in the same way we do now, but instead it becomes something that’s actioned without question.

What can you do in your role as CCMO to help advance gender diversity?

Hsu: I think I can help in my role as a CCMO – and also as a senior female leader – by setting a good example, supporting, and mentoring others and driving a strong DE&I team and agenda at Sokin. Being part of a progressive and innovative company helps immensely, but also we have a culture where everyone’s opinion matters and can be shared which really can drive quick and necessary change.

It’s also about giving women the opportunities they need to succeed. The best way to create a rope ladder for other people to climb is to include them in your own journey. I’ve been exceedingly lucky to work with lots of incredible people over the years who did just that. By doing so, they pulled the best out of me which I did not see in myself. Before I knew it, I was involved in activities which, to me, seemed impossible, but those around me saw things differently. I will always be grateful for this, and I hope I can support the talent of today in the same way.

It may sound simple, but by doing so you naturally open opportunities and further responsibilities for those in your team. Providing an accessible platform to learn is fundamental in supporting others through their professional careers, especially in fast-paced industries such as fintech in which there are an plenty of chances opening every day. It’s about giving people both the confidence and, most importantly, access to pursue them.

Sokin is involved in multiple new initiatives. What excites you most about the direction of the company right now?

Hsu: I’m most excited about how the company is innovating and the way we are building our ecosystem and partnerships. It’s unlike any other organization I have worked! Sokin is at the forefront of several innovations such as taking payments into the metaverse and web 3.0, alongside what we can do with our existing and new partners.

Having only launched our Global Currency Account in August 2021, Sokin has rapidly expanded into 32 territories, and welcomed more than 120,000 Sokin customers with a further 175,000 currently on the global waiting list. At the end of 2021, we had transferred over $100 million around the world, delivered a multilingual app with five accessible languages, doubled the size of Sokin’s global workforce, partnered with five top-class football clubs including our first NFL team, and launched our exclusive sponsorship community, Sokin – Money Goals. To achieve this in a matter of months is astounding.

In short, we are leveling up global payments with the ambition to become the provider of choice for global transfers and currency exchange around the world. And I wholeheartedly believe we can and we will achieve this.

Photo by Max DeRoin

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Data Fueled Decision Making : Our Women’s History Month Conversation with SmartAsset’s Meghan Lapides

Data Fueled Decision Making : Our Women’s History Month Conversation with SmartAsset’s Meghan Lapides
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Diversity in Fintech, Speaker series, Women in Fintech

Finovate’s celebration of Women’s History Month continues with this conversation with Meghan Lapides, who recently became Chief People Officer for SmartAsset.

Founded in 2012, SmartAsset is an online hub for consumer-focused financial information and advice. The company reaches approximately 75 million people each month via its educational content, personalized financial calculators, and other tools. SmartAsset also powers SmartAdvisor, a nationwide marketplace that helps connect consumers with financial advisors.

We caught up with Ms. Lapides to discuss her goals as Chief People Officer, the evolution of human resources and talent management in the tech industry, and how a smart “People strategy” can help companies grow.

Why did you decide to take the opportunity to be Chief People Officer for SmartAsset?

Meghan Lapides: SmartAsset’s mission of helping people get better financial advice really spoke to me. Planning for your future is incredibly important and many people start late. Being part of a company that helps people think smartly and early about financial planning is something that aligns with my personal mission of helping people. When I met the leadership team and members of the People team, I knew this was the place for me. Their passion and intelligence combined with our CEO’s vision was the right combination of factors that confirmed my decision to join SmartAsset.

Is SmartAsset your first fintech? Is there anything unique about building a People strategy in fintech compared to other tech companies you have worked for?

Lapides: Yes, SmartAsset represents my first professional experience in the fintech space! One of the things I love about Human Resources is that when you change companies you get the opportunity to learn an entirely new industry. I love what I do, so I find it exciting to be doing what I love and applying my expertise in a completely new environment. I’ve been lucky to work in multiple different industries, including enterprise SAAS, consumer, and professional services, as well as different fields, such as advertising, public relations, technology, and fashion, so I’ve embraced these opportunities to learn something new. When I was considering my next move, I was interested in companies that were in the fintech space and also mission driven – SmartAsset was both of those things! I also wanted another professional opportunity to be a part of building something great, impactful, and meaningful. I’m thrilled that SmartAsset checked all of those boxes and honored that they selected me to oversee and scale their People department.

How has talent acquisition and management changed over the years that you have been involved in human resources?

Lapides: It’s wild to think about it now, but in my first recruiting coordinator role, we didn’t have an Applicant Tracking System. We used paper files to track candidates and I typed the labels for those files on a typewriter! We went from antiquated processes like that to new intelligent systems that help source great candidates and mitigate bias while offering data collection and analysis to iterate and improve on processes that make the most impact. “Data Fuels Our Decisions” is one of SmartAsset’s core values, and I’m happy that today’s HR systems allow us to make informed decisions in an efficient and timely manner.

When I was thinking of going into HR after studying to be a Marriage & Family Counselor in college, I spoke to a family friend who was the COO of a huge company about whether or not it was the right move. He told me that “Personnel was not for me. I was too creative for that.” We still joke that I have spent the last 20 years proving him wrong.

I’ve been lucky to work for progessive, people-centric organizations, but I’ve seen a huge increase in flexibility and creativity when it comes to managing talent. But more than that, especially post-pandemic, the People team not only has a seat at the table, but also we are key influencers in setting the strategy for the company’s most valuable resource: its people. The intersection of the business and our people is where our team sits and the two can’t be successful without the other. Highly engaged, happy and healthy employees build strong businesses. Businesses that allow people to make an impact internally and externally are the ones that attract the best talent. I am energized by being able to spend my time focusing on building a strong business and a culture that gives our Assets the best chance of success and allows our employees to grow.

What is most important to you in terms of leadership development within a company?

Lapides: Openness and shared vision. We all know how important mission, vision, and values are in building culture – but it’s very important for leadership to have a shared vision on what leadership looks like and how you can support each other to be successful from both the top down and the bottom up. I also think in order for a company to be truly successful – and have a highly engaged workforce – you need to have the openness to create a place where people can come as they are, lead as they are, and celebrate diversity in all forms.

What role can diversity and inclusion policies play to help drive growth and expansion?

Lapides: When you are creating products and services for the world, you need to look like the world you are creating it for. Studies show that the more diverse companies are, typically the more successful they are. But DEI is way more important than financial success. It helps DEI and company expansion to remove barriers to entry, reduce bias, open your recruiting pipeline, and create a safe, open, and equitable culture. When it comes to retaining your best talent, companies must ensure that their workplace allows people to be themselves, engage in real world events and issues, and also create a culture of belonging.

SmartAsset made the decision to remain a remote-first company. This helps our DEI strategy because it removes geographical barriers and helps us to be more accommodating of diverse work styles. Being a remote-first company further allows us to hire talent more quickly to support our rapid expansion given the fact that there are fewer geographic barriers.

What are some of the challenges a People strategy faces as businesses get bigger? How do companies overcome or manage them?

Lapides: Scaling a company is a huge challenge. Processes that worked at 50, 100, or 200 employees don’t always hold up at 500, 1,000, or 2,000. People teams also tend to run lean at a startup, so it’s really important to put talent behind that team – especially as you scale – to ensure the needs of your employees are met and you can get ahead of big projects and initiatives.

Are there any other issues you think might be worth highlighting about your new role?

Lapides: SmartAsset is a remote-first company, which is incredibly exciting because it allows us to hire the best talent wherever they are in the country. However, that comes with challenges as well. We are looking for opportunities to focus on asynchronous workflows to allow people to do their best work in their own time zones, but also have the ability to collaborate across different teams. We are focused on allowing the flexibility for both independent work and cross collaboration, and creating an environment that allows people to build relationships, focus on what is important, further build our culture, and continue to do great work.

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels

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Women First: Finovate Celebrates Fintech’s Female Leadership

Women First: Finovate Celebrates Fintech’s Female Leadership
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Amplify Life Insurance, Coconut Software, Diversity in Fintech, Horizn, Icon Savings Plan, InfoCorp, List series, Long Game, UNest, Vymo, Women in Fintech

As part of Finovate’s continued celebration of Women’s History Month and female-led fintech, we are taking a moment to showcase the women whose companies demoed their latest innovations at our Finovate conferences last year.

Hanna Wu

CEO and Co-Founder, Amplify Life Insurance, FinovateFall. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded in 2019, Amplify helps people build wealth through permanent life insurance.

Katherine Regnier

CEO and Founder, Coconut Software, FinovateSpring. Headquartered in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, and founded in 2007, Coconut Software provides a platform for financial institutions to help them improve customer digital and in-person engagement.

Janice Diner

CEO and Founder, Horizn, FinovateFall (Best of Show winner). Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and founded in 2011, Horizn helps banks accelerate digital banking knowledge, fluency, and adoption for both customers and employees.

Laurie Rowley

CEO, Icon Savings Plan, FinovateFall. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded in 2019, Icon Savings Plan provides portable retirement savings plans, the next generation in workplace savings.

Ana Inés Echavarren

CEO, Infocorp, FinovateFall (Best of Show winner). Headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay, and founded in 1994, Infocorp offers a smart digital platform that provides banks with fast and flexible solutions to deliver superior customer experiences.

Lindsay Holden

CEO, Long Game, FinovateFall (Best of Show winner). Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded in 2015, Long Game is a gamified finance app that helps banks acquire new customers and increase engagement with their current Millennial and Generation Z customers.

Ksenia Yudina

CEO, UNest, FinovateFall. Headquartered in Hollywood, California, and founded in 2020, UNest is the leading provider of financial planning, savings, and investment tools for parents to help their children reach their dreams.

Yamini Bhat

CEO and Co-Founder, Vymo, FinovateSpring, FinovateFall. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, and founded in 2013, Vymo offers a sales acceleration platform for financial services firms like Berkshire Hathaway, AXA, and BNP Paribas.

Photo by RODNAE Productions from Pexels

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Celebrating International Women’s Day: Time to #BreakTheBias in Fintech

Celebrating International Women’s Day: Time to #BreakTheBias in Fintech
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Guest Post, Women in Fintech

The following is a guest post from Annette Evans, VP of People and Culture, Global Processing Services

This month we at GPS are joining the #BreakTheBias campaign for International Women’s Day 2022 and adding our voice to encourage the fintech community to actively speak up about gender bias in the workplace and outside of it.

Assessing the current status of the fintech industry – given that progressive mind-sets and innovation are the lifeblood of our sector – you may assume fintechs would be pioneers of gender diversity.

Whilst progress is certainly being made, the reality is our sector still has a long way to go.

As the GPS-sponsored Diversity for Growth Report in partnership with Findexable uncovered recently, the representation of women in fintech is not as diverse as one might expect.

Two data points stood out to me in our survey. Firstly, there is a consensus that a lack of gender balance means men’s ideas dominate across every stage of the fintech value chain. Secondly, rapidly scaling companies are struggling to balance diversity commitments with the challenges of building teams in new regions at scale and speed.

On the positive side, fintech firms appear to unanimously agree that a commitment to being fully inclusive makes business sense. They understand that well-managed diverse groups outperform homogenous ones as diversity leads to a higher collective intelligence, better decision-making, and accelerated innovation.

Many also understand that it makes commercial sense as having more women in technical positions leads to more customers because it means creating products which are tailored with women in mind. Women understand how women think and what they need.

It seems strange, therefore, that there is still a gender diversity issue in fintech.

When I speak to leaders across our fast-growing global GPS ecosystem of fintechs, schemes, and banks, I nearly always hear the same thing. The bench of candidates being presented for senior or critical technical roles is rarely diverse, limiting hiring choices.

But recognizing this issue does not solve it. It simply pushes the challenge back to recruiters to try and resolve.

The challenge recruiters face is that the pool of fintech talent we are all recruiting from, whilst growing, is still small compared to other sectors.

We all continue to recruit from the same talent pool, which is problematic, not just from a gender diversity perspective but also for diversity as a whole in all its guises.

This is where I say we all need to apply the #BreakTheBias lens. For recruiters to be successful in providing a more diverse range of talent, leaders need to be more open-minded about where the talent may come from.

Change is happening, but real change takes time. Whilst diverse talent is entering the talent pool at the entry level, it will take time for them to gain their experience and work their way up to bring diversity to more senior levels.

In the immediate term, companies need to review their business culture and ask potentially tough questions around why so few women choose to work for their company. Do you create an environment where talent in all guises can shine? Or does it unconsciously favor those who already fit the mold? If someone thinks or acts differently, how are they treated? Businesses who fail to ask these questions risk losing out.

It is only by shining a mirror on ourselves that we can discover the knowledge we need to take action to try and address diversity challenges. We have to listen to be given the opportunity to change. Change can take a long time, but it will take even longer if it is delayed, ignored, or hidden.

As the organizers of this year’s International Women’s Day state, knowing that bias exists is not enough. Action is needed to level the playing field. Individually, we’re all responsible for our own thoughts and actions – all day, every day.

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Women and FinovateEurope: Delivering the Message of Fintech Innovation

Women and FinovateEurope: Delivering the Message of Fintech Innovation
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: FinovateEurope 2022, Speaker series, Women in Fintech

From the very first FinovateEurope, women have led and helped lead live demonstrations of how companies were using new technologies to tackle the financial challenges faced by businesses, families, and communities. As part of that inaugural event in 2012, women from Cardlytics, ETRONIKA, Figlo, Ixaris Systems, Kabbage, Liqpay, Mootwin, Striata, and ValidSoft were on stage delivering the message of fintech innovation.

As Women’s History Month gets underway – and with International Women’s Day, March 8, right around the corner – we wanted to highlight some of the women who will be demoing their company’s latest fintech innovations this month at FinovateEurope 2022. Catch all of our FinovateEurope demoes during our Digital Kickoff on March 15, and on March 22 and March 23 for the live event in London.

Liron Diamant

Fintech Executive, Anodot. A payments expert with more than ten years’ experience in fintech startups, Diamant has a focus on building payments platforms and managing relationships with international banks and payments companies.

Daria Dubinina

CEO and Co-founder, Crassula. A strategist and entrepreneur as well as a CEO and founder, Dubinina has spent more than ten years specializing in payments, e-commerce, and business development.

Patrycja Karwat

IT Security Specialist, BNP Paribas Poland. Presenting in partnership with Secfense, Karwat has more than five years of experience in cybersecurity and banking. Previously, she spent more than four years in various technical roles with Deloitte including as Senior Analyst and Quality Assurance Tester.

Katalin Kauzli

Co-founder, Business Development Director, Partner HUB. With experience on both the principal and advisor side of business operations, Kauzli has 10+ years experience in a variety of roles, including assisting startups seeking equity in Hungary and managing corporate finance assignments.

Mariam Malwand

Product Owner, Topicus.Finance. Educated at Amsterdam’s Hotelschool Den Haag, Malwand brings founding and managing director experience to her work as Product Owner at Topicus Finance.

Yasmina Siadatan

Sales and Marketing Director, Dynamic Planner. With knowledge and experience across core marketing areas from analysis and communication to digital content and sales, Siadatan has helped drive awareness of Dynamic Planner and its brand throughout the retail investment industry.

Ana Luísa Silva

Head of Marketing, ebankIT. Silva brings more than seven years of experience in marketing and communications to her role at Finovate Best of Show winner ebankIT. She holds advanced degrees from the EAE Business School and the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya.

FinovateEurope 2022 is only a few weeks away. If you are an innovative fintech company with new technology to show, then there’s no better time than now and no better forum than FinovateEurope. To learn more about how to demo your latest innovation at FinovateEurope 2022 in London, March 22 and 23, visit our FinovateEurope hub today!

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

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Lending, Automation, and Digital Transformation with Teslar Software’s Amy Berger

Lending, Automation, and Digital Transformation with Teslar Software’s Amy Berger
By David Penn Posted on
Categories: Interview, Teslar, Women in Fintech

Making its Finovate debut nearly seven years ago (as 3E Software), Teslar Software has become a valued strategic partner for community financial institutions across the United States. The firm’s portfolio management solutions aggregate and automate both lending and deposit operations into a single system, enabling them to scale and enhance processes throughout the institution.

Just this week, the Springdale, Arkansas-based company announced its latest partnership, teaming up with Tennessee’s Legends Bank who will use Teslar’s full suite of automated workflow and portfolio management tools to streamline and centralize its commercial lending business. Legends Bank joins The First, Jefferson Security Bank, and Bank First – community banks that have announced collaborations with Teslar over the past few weeks and months.

We caught up with Teslar Software’s Solutions Specialist, VP, Amy Berger to talk about the company’s recent progress in helping banks improve their commercial lending operations, and which trends in financial services she expects to dominate in 2022.

Tell us about yourself and your experience in financial services.

Amy Berger: My experience in financial services has been in the banking industry, with a focus on business lending. I began my career with a commercial finance company, but have spent nearly the last 20 years in community banking. I’ve worked as a commercial lender, in credit administration, SBA lending management, and have extensive M&A experience. I’ve consistently been active with the credit system side of things. 

I first became acquainted with the fintech space when centralizing commercial and consumer lending functions for a bank. That was actually the first time I came in contact with Teslar Software, a provider of portfolio management tools that aggregate and automate lending and deposit operations for community financial institutions. Years later, and I have come full circle, joining Teslar Software as the VP, solutions specialist. 

What are the biggest challenges and opportunities facing business lending today?

Berger: The most notable business lending challenges and opportunities fall into the same bucket: the need for community banks to understand the needs of and be responsive to their customers and businesses within their communities. This raises potentially tricky questions such as how to efficiently provide those services while still delivering speed and a high touch service approach for your customers.

Bankers were forced to really address this question head on over the last two years and many have embraced technology in meaningful ways. With modern technology, banks are discovering how to provide both convenient, digital experiences and a personal connection to customers within commercial lending. I only expect this trend to grow this year and beyond.

How does Teslar help institutions support their small businesses?

Berger: Teslar Software aggregates and automates lending and deposit operations processes into a single system, enabling institutions to improve efficiencies and seamlessly scale. With Teslar, banks are able to spend less time on tedious, paper-based processes and more time growing their portfolios and building more meaningful customer relationships.

Teslar is laser focused on helping institutions provide a fully digital experience across commercial and SBA lending. We truly believe there is a significant market gap here and, if approach correctly, such digitization can empower banks to grow and compete with greater visibility and speed.

What advice do you have for women looking to grow professionally in this male-dominated industry?

Berger: Stay true to what you’re passionate about and don’t be afraid to contribute. Ask questions. Raise your hand. Use your voice. This may sound quite simple, but it can make all the difference for women looking to grow and thrive in the industry.

What financial service trends can be expected in the new year? 

Berger: Thanks to the range of options made available by fintechs, digitization is no longer just for the large national banks; it’s now within everyone’s reach.  It’s prime time for community and regional banks to fully embrace digital transformation wherever they can. To effectively do so must involve integrating systems to streamline business processes and deliver products and services quickly. The community banking space has proven time and again the value they provide, and I don’t expect that momentum to slow down any time soon.

Photo by Vojtech Okenka from Pexels

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