Ondot Teams Up with CU Solutions Group

Ondot Teams Up with CU Solutions Group

CU Solutions Group, a CUSO (credit union services organization) that provides technology, marketing, and advisory products and services to more than 3,400 credit unions across the U.S., has announced a new partnership with digital card services platform Ondot Systems. Via the agreement, CU Solutions Group is now a Card App reseller partner with Ondot and will offer its digital card management program to credit unions in its network.

“We are excited to be able to offer our credit unions a way to level the playing field with the digital-first card experiences being offered by tech giants like Apple, Google, and Samsung,” CU Solutions Group President and CEO Dave Adams explained. “Consumers have long said they want to bank with digitally-savvy credit unions, and this helps ensure those desires are met.”

Ondot’s Card App enables financial institutions to offer their customers a mobile app for managing, tracking, and controlling both credit and debit card usage. The solution makes it easy to monitor transactions and improve financial planning and decision-making for users, while enabling card issuers to benefit from fewer service calls and more customer engagement. Last month, Ondot announced that eleven card issuers – from American State Bank to Utah Community Credit Union – had selected Ondot’s Card App to provide “digital-first card experiences, similar to cards launched or announced by Apple, Google, and Samsung.”

Ondot VP Jim Cahill referenced the challenge that financial institutions face from platform players that are determined to have a role in the card space. “Cards are the most critical touchpoint between consumers and a financial institution, and currently non-banks are promising a better user experience than banks and credit unions,” Cahill said. “The 11 financial institutions that have selected Ondot’s Card App are examples of regional and community issuers that can compete on digital experiences and win.”

A Finovate alum since 2014, Ondot’s digital card services platform is used by more than 4,500 banks and credit unions to power cardholder engagement. The San Jose, California-based company won “Best Overall FinTech Mobile App” at the 2020 FinTech Breakthrough Award for its Card App this spring, and was also named to the Financial Times’ inaugural The Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies 2020 roster. Founded in 2011, Ondot counts Citi Ventures among its investors.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

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  • Check out a sneak peek of Flybits‘ upcoming demo at FinovateMiddleEast.
  • SparkPost to Acquire eDataSource for Undisclosed Amount.

Around the web

  • Ondot Systems launches new Card App to deliver an “Apple Card-like experience” for end clients.
  • Temenos leverages Kony acquisition to launch Temenos Infinity for ominchannel digital banking.
  • Walmart expands relationship with Green Dot for seven more years. 
  • Experian launches a new Open Data solution: Experian Commercial Acumen.
  • Mambu’s composable banking solution to help new SME bank Recognise enhance the customer experience.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Ondot Unveils New Cloud Service to Help Smaller Banks, Credit Unions Compete

Ondot Unveils New Cloud Service to Help Smaller Banks, Credit Unions Compete

The new cloud service announced by Ondot this week will make it easier for the company’s 4,000 bank and credit union customers to secure faster upgrades, deploy new functionalities, and access the latest innovations designed to enhance the mobile and digital card experience. Leveraging the cloud will also help FIs lower costs associated with operations, maintenance, compliance, and monitoring.

Ondot Head of Product Prasanna Narayan pointed to the challenges that regional banks and credit unions in particular face when it comes to integrating physical data into their data centers. Making Ondot’s card controls and other solutions available via a cloud-based service, Narayan explained, can help these smaller financial institutions keep pace with their bigger rivals. “This option allows mid-sized and smaller issuers to more quickly and easily launch these services and compete with larger national banks on digital customer experience,” he said.

Enhanced security is as much a part of the new cloud service as the enhanced customer experience. Narayan highlighted Ondot’s depth of understanding the security and compliance needs of financial institutions given its eight years of experience working with banks and credit unions. A scalable and reliable AWS, and robust disaster recovery and redundancy provide consistent uptime for clients using the service.

Santa Clara, California-based Ondot demonstrated its digital card mobile app at FinovateSpring 2018. The solution supports a range of digital payment card services from new customer acquisition to instant card activation and new card provisioning. The company won a Finovate Best of Show award at our first conference in Dubai, UAE, last year, FinovateMiddleEast, where it demoed its card controls technology.

2018 was a big year for the company. Back in November, Ondot introduced a new, end-to-end digital card services platform for banks in the Asia-Pacific region. Last summer, the company announced a partnership with PSCU, the premier payments credit union service organization, that will enable credit unions to integrate Ondot’s card alerts and controls technology into their mobile and online account management apps – or have them delivered directly via PSCU’s digital platform.

Founded in 2011, Ondot has raised $51 million in funding. Vaduvur Bharghavan is co-founder and CEO.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Ondot Unveils New Cloud Service to Help Smaller Banks Compete.
  • Urban FT Acquires Remote Deposit Capture Innovator CFC Technology Group.

Around the web

  • TransUnion launches its consumer data mapping solution, TrueVision.
  • Coinbase to offer exclusive trading data to all customers.
  • Plaid unveils its Liabilities endpoint to support development of apps to help combat student loan debt.
  • Signifyd announces general availability of its Signifyd INR Protection add-on, bringing coverage of item-not-received (INR) chargebacks to its fraud protection solution.
  • Klarna partners with Superdry to enable the company’s customers in the U.K. to pay later or pay in three installments.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World

As Finovate goes increasingly global, so does our coverage of financial technology. Finovate Global: Fintech News from Around the World is our weekly look at fintech innovation in developing economies in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Fintech digital crowdsourcing platform, Fintech Galaxy, honors leaders of MENA’s fintech industry at its FinX – Excellence in Fintech awards.
  • Entrepreneur magazine looks at how recent investment trends are impacting the growth of fintech in the MENA region.
  • ADGM announces partnership with Bahrain’s central bank to encourage innovation in financial services in both the UAE and Bahrain.

Central and South Asia

  • Bangladeshi sales automation and credit assessment firm ShopUp picks up $1.62 million in seed round led by Omidyar Network.
  • Kazakhstan’s Bank CentreCredit buys 111 ATMs with integrated security and monitoring technology from BS/2.
  • TechCrunch interviews ZestMoney CEO Lizzie Chapman on the building a fintech startup in India.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Decision Report features Finn AI in a look at how chatbots are revolutionizing the financial sector. In Portuguese.
  • Banco Ficensa of Honduras goes live with new core banking technology from e-IBS.
  • Brazil’s Banco Bradesco partners with Japan’s MUFG Bank to develop Ripple-based cross-border payments service.

Asia-Pacific

  • Singapore’s Grab raises $50 million in new funding from Thailand-based Kasikornbank; unveils co-branded mobile wallet, GrabPay by KBank.
  • Courtesy of a joint venture with China’s LianLian, American Express becomes the first foreign card scheme to gain direct access to China’s payment card market.
  • Ondot Systems announces new end-to-end digital card services platform for Asian banks.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Kenyan fintech startup Pezesha unveils financial education academy to help educate would-be borrowers.
  • Rand Merchant Investment Holding (RMI) via AlphaCode, awards R16 million to eight South African fintech startups.
  • Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo urges the nation’s banks to make reforms in order to “cope” with what he called “a quick convergence between technology and financial products.”

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Tinkoff Mobile extends service to seven additional areas of Russia including Smolensk and the Republic of Mordovia.
  • Czech Republic’s Moneta embraces cloud-based banking with test of automatic application deployment in the AWS environment.
  • Russian microfinance company MFC Zaymer joins automated P2P platform, Robo.cash.

Top image designed by Freepik

Ondot Lands Strategic Investment from Citi Ventures

Ondot Lands Strategic Investment from Citi Ventures

A strategic investment from Citi Ventures announced today will help power international growth for mobile payment services specialist Ondot.

“As we steadily march toward high-frequency, invisible and autonomous payments, consumers increasingly expect detailed information about their transactions,” Ondot CEO Vaduvur Bharghavan said. “Bringing together details such as real-time transaction authorizations, proximity controls, merchant specifications, and applying machine learning on historical data helps consumers have more control over their cards and delivers a premium cardholder experience.”

The amount of the funding was not disclosed. Prior to today’s news, the company reportedly had raised $51 million in equity financing.

Ondot offers banks and credit unions technology that enables them to provide their customers with solutions to better manage and control their card payments. The company’s real-time, API-based platform and mobile app provide an end-to-end digital payment card services experience that ranges from bot-assisted digital acquisition and instant activation to geolocation-based contextual alerts and messaging. Ondot’s technology gives payment cards a “digital voice,” supported by a three-way interaction between the card issuer, the card holder, and the merchant.

“Consumers want to be able to manage their financial lives anywhere and at any time, and their expectations for a seamless experience will continue to evolve,” Citi Ventures’ co-head of venture investing Ramneek Gupta said. “Ondot meets this demand by providing innovative solutions that enable increased access and control of financial information, so we are thrilled to invest.”

Ondot’s strategic investment comes as the company announced a partnership with Mexico’s INVEX. The collaboration will enable INVEX to leverage Ondot’s digital acquisition and instant issuance technology to provide the country’s first “Instant Card.” Integrated with Ondot’s technology, INVEX’s Digital Card Services solution will also feature mobile product presentment and selection, as well as built-in card controls and alerts.

“Nowadays, credit card customers and digitally savvy generations, seek simplicity and immediate financial solutions through 100% digital channels,” Jean Marc Mercier, INVEX’s Managing Director for Consumer Banking and Payments, said. He added that INVEX was “committed to consolidate our position as a player at the forefront of the Mexican consumer and payments market, providing solutions that meet these expectations.”

Santa Clara, California-based Ondot Systems demonstrated its Digital Card mobile app at FinovateSpring 2018. The company also participated in our inaugural FinovateMiddleEast conference earlier this year, winning Best of Show honors for a live demo of its card control technology. More than 3,000 banks and credit unions around the world use Ondot’s white label apps, including the premier credit union services organization in the U.S., PSCU, which announced a partnership with Ondot in August.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Open Bank Project Collaborates with Open Source Software Company Red Hat.
  • Ondot Lands Strategic Investment from Citi Ventures.
  • Experian, FICO, and Finicity Launch the UltraFICO Score.

Around the web

  • Bloomberg TV features Best of Show winner Bumped.
  • Envestnet | Yodlee launches new suite of developer tools.
  • ThreatMetrix partners with SAS, bringing digital identity intelligence to machine learning to help creditors fight identity fraud.
  • Finastra introduces its cloud-based instant payments offering for SMEs.
  • Sberbank inks Memorandum of Understanding with SWIFT.
  • Artivest appoints new Chief Compliance Officer, Kamal Jafarnia.
  • Featurespace unveils its ARIC White Label solution for advanced fraud and risk prevention.
  • Finextra: Fidor and GFT extend partnership to the Americas markets.
  • Kony acquires innovation subsidiary of Umpqua Bank.
  • Finextra: NTT Data plans pan-Asian federated trade information platform based on blockchain.
  • SuperMoney surpasses $1 billion in financing requests
  • Bluefin and TokenEx partner to strengthen payment security with PCI-validated P2PE and omni-channel tokenization.
  • ID.me launches KYC / AML identity verification solution and ID document verification solution.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Dynamics’ Battery-Powered Cards Hit Japan.
  • Q2 to Acquire Cloud Lending Solutions.
  • Onfido Helps TransferGo Onboard New Users Faster.

Around the web

  • OnDeck reports record net income for second quarter, credits asset growth and margin expansion.
  • Outsystems announces record-breaking quarter across all key business metrics, including a 63% gain in annual recurring revenue for Q2.
  • Varo Money to deploy Temenos’ T24 core banking system.
  • Ondot partners with PSCU, the premier payments credit union service organization to provide its card alerts and controls technology.
  • Tuition.io partners with Carhartt to help employees pay down student debt.
  • App Annie selected for JMP’s Hot 100 Best Privately Held Software Companies of 2018.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Ondot Introduces Digital Card Services Platform

Ondot Introduces Digital Card Services Platform

Winner of Best of Show awards at FinovateSpring and FinovateMiddleEast, Ondot Systems has launched its digital card services platform. The new offering provides card issuers with full digital card life-cycle management – from initial invitation through secure payments – in a single platform.

“In a digital-first world where payments are becoming invisible and consumers expect instant gratification, card issuers must attract, acquire, and empower consumers with personalized digital experience,” Sung-Wook Han, CTO for Ondot, explained. “Ondot provides a comprehensive set of services around the ‘digitized card,’ integrating into existing mobile apps, card management systems, and authorization platforms.”

Ondot CEO Vaduvur Bharghavan demonstrating the Ondot Digital Card Mobile App at FinovateSpring 2018.

Ondot’s latest solution takes advantage of social networking and bot technology to enhance the customer acquisition, application, and KYC processes. Approved cardholders get instant digital card issuance with dynamic security codes (CVV2) to support secure e-commerce, and the ability to make in-app push provisions to digital wallets. Ondot also brings to bear its innovations in card control technology, enabling cardholders to control how and when their cards can be used. Cardholders can also set spending limits, location parameters, and allow or block transactions with specific merchants.

Ondot’s latest offering can be integrated into current mobile banking apps via APIs/SDKs, or accessed as a white label mobile app with customized branding. The platform supports credit, debit, and prepaid cards, including Visa, Mastercard and private label cards.

Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and having offices in Bangalore, India, Ondot Systems made its Finovate debut in 2014. At the event, the company won Best of Show for a live demonstration of its Mobile Card Services solution. More recently, Ondot participated in our inaugural FinovateMiddleEast conference in February, demoing its Digital Card Mobile App. The company followed its Best of Show winning demonstration with news that it was bringing Mobile Card Services to customers in Asia.

Last month, Ondot celebrated a major milestone by having 3,000 financial institutions offer mobile card controls powered by its technology. Founded in 2011, the company has raised $28 million in funding. Vaduvur Bharghavan is CEO.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Risk Ident to Help Universum Protect Retailers from Fraud.
  • Dorsum Unveils My Wealth Mobile App.
  • Ondot Introduces Digital Card Services Platform.

Around the web

  • NuData Security named a “Top 100 in Tech” by Business in Vancouver.
  • ThetaRay wins ATMIA’s Next Generation ATM Security Award.
  • Tuition.io to power student loan repayment benefits for Hulu employees.
  • Standard Chartered Bank announces intentions to apply for the virtual banking license.
  • Conversation.one is Amazon Alexa-Certified for Financial Institutions.
  • Flywire and UnionPay Partner to Take the Cost Out of Cross-Border Payments from China.
  • Yoyo introduces quarterly tracker to monitor customer activity in closed catering environments.
  • U.K.-based Business Leader magazine features Wealthify and YellowDog among its 32 South West Tech Businesses That Are Shaping the Future spotlight.
  • Unblu opens offices in London.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Gusto Launching its Own Yelp for Accountants.
  • Fintonic Bolsters Platform’s Loan Options with BBVA Partnership.

Around the web

  • Multiple-time Best of Show winner Ondot Systems launches its digital card services platform.
  • Thomson Reuters and ICAP announce five-year extension of their partnership.
  • TransferWise lands its first big European bank customer with new agreement with France’s BPCE Group.
  • NY Times features Unison’s approach to shared equity home ownership investment
  • Taulia has record $4.5bn First Quarter.
  • Cardlytics refinances credit facilities with Square 1 Bank.
  • Ripple to give $50 million to universities including Princeton, MIT, and UCL for blockchain research.
  • Foothills Credit Union selects Digital Onboarding for new member onboarding technology.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • eToro Launches Cryptocurrency Exchange, Expands to U.S.
  • Tradeshift’s Tradeshift Pay to Free Up $9 Trillion in Cash Trapped in Accounts Receivable.
  • International Invoicing Platform from Flywire Emerges from Beta.

Around the web

  • Compass Plus adds interchange functionality to its open development payments platform, TranzAxis.
  • Finastra names Jim Fiesel Managing Director of Capital Markets and Lending Sales for the Americas.
  • eToro to incorporate in Gibraltar to take advantage of new DLT regulatory framework.
  • Neener Analytics completes proof of concept with one of Mexico’s largest credit card issuers.
  • Multiple-time Best of Show winner Ondot Systems announces more than  3,000 financial institutions are offering mobile card controls powered by its technology.

This post will be updated throughout the day as news and developments emerge. You can also follow all the alumni news headlines on the Finovate Twitter account.