Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Revolut Hires JP Morgan to Manage $500 Million Funding Round and Issue $1 Billion Loan.

Around the web

  • Alfa-Bank launches cross-border payment pilot project with Novolipetsk Steel Company, Commerzbank, and Vesuvius.
  • Divido and Shopify to offer Splitit’s monthly installment payment solution to customers.
  • Zippia names Stratifyd a great place to work.

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

  • Scalable Capital Raises $28 Million.
  • Finicity Launches Student Loan Account Verification.

Around the web

  • Splitit announces partnership with music software provider Ableton.
  • Jack Henry reports partnerships with 57 community financial institutions in fiscal 2019.
  • Western Union deploys customer journey optimization solution, Nexidia, from Nice Systems.
  • Venmo launches instant transfers to bank accounts.
  • Quadient unveils new archived document and data retrieval solution.
  • Euromoney features BioCatch in its look at the fintech scene in Israel.
  • SuperMoney tops $2 billion in loan requests via its online lending marketplace platform.

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.

Splitit Brings Installment Payment Options to ASEAN Merchants

Splitit Brings Installment Payment Options to ASEAN Merchants

A new partnership between Splitit and payment service GHL ePayments will make Splitit’s installment payment solution available to more than 2,000 online merchants in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The deal will allow GHL to offer Splitit’s installment payment option to its customers, and enable Splitit to grow its presence in the Asia-Pacific region, according to company CEO and co-founder Gil Don.

“We are delighted to offer GHL merchants a simple way to boost sales and improve customer satisfaction by offering interest-free installments at the checkout,” Don said. “Splitit’s payment solution is a highly effective way for merchants to ease eager travelers’ budget woes, while increasing brand loyalty for merchants.”

Splitit enables consumers to divide the cost of online purchases into no interest, no fee monthly installments. Consumers can use their existing debit or credit card to make purchases from participating online merchants, choose the Splitit option, and receive instant approvals. The company notes that merchants have seen an 11% decrease in cart abandonment, a 12% increase in sales, and an 80% increase in average order value (AOV) after deploying the technology.

Danny Leong, Group CEO of GHL Systems Berhad, praised Splitit as a unique addition to the suite of solutions GHL provides to its merchant partners. “Splitit’s non-lending offering is unlike any other payment player’s and we believe this partnership will help us continue our growth as ASEAN’s trusted payment experts,” Leong said. One of the major merchant acquirers in the ASEAN region, GHL processes more than $241 million ($350 million AUD) in total online and offline transaction value each month across its merchant network. The firm manages more than 368,000 point of sales in Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Cambodia, and Australia.

Making its Finovate debut as PayItSimple in 2014 at FinovateFall, the company rebranded as Splitit a year later as part of an emphasis on serving “all members of the credit card payment ecosystem.” More recently, the company partnered with EFTPay to bring its installment payment option to merchants in Hong Kong and Macau, and teamed up with Australian retailer Kogan. Splitit also bolstered its executive ranks this summer, adding former Intuit and PayPal executive Brad Paterson to lead its North American operations.

Based in New York City, Splitit announced a post IPO equity round in May, raising $20.7 million ($30 million AUD). The funding followed the company’s successful IPO on the Australian Stock Exchange at the beginning of the year. Trading under the ticker SPT, Splitit has a market capitalization of $200 million.

ACI Invests in Indian Payments; Brazilian Fintech Picks Up $200M from Japan

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.

Central and Southern Asia

  • ACI Worldwide invests in Mumbai, India-based payments innovator, Mindgate Solutions.
  • Pakistan’s Bank of Khyber to deploy new core banking system from Temenos.
  • Infosys earns recognition as a ‘leader’ in the IDC MarketSpace: Worldwide IT Service Management (ITSM) Implementation Services 2019 Vendor Assessment.

Latin America and the Caribbean

  • Brazilian fintech Creditas picks up $200 million investment from Japan’s Softbank, boosting the company’s valuation to $700 million.
  • Crowdfund Insider reveals the 3 Biggest Fintech Trends Shaping Latin America.
  • Amero-Isatek to open its first brick and mortar cryptocurrency exchange in Mexico’s Nuevo Leon, Monterrey.

Asia-Pacific

  • Splitit partners with EFTPay to bring installment payments to merchants in Hong Kong and Macau.
  • Vietnam’s MSB (Maritime Bank) picks SunTec for its customer centricity system.
  • Morocco-based BMCE Bank of Africa to leverage technology from Temenos to drive new corporate banking and trade finance operation in China.

Sub-Saharan Africa

  • Global Finance investigates the rise of Africa’s entrepreneurial class in the private banking industry.
  • Finextra looks at three reasons why fintech is driving change in Africa.
  • Standard Bank introduces new Mastercard-powered ditital trade solution, SimplyBlu, for SMEs in South Africa.

Central and Eastern Europe

  • Wallet, the PFM app from Prague-based fintech BudgetBakers, earns license from Czech National Bank to join the bank’s APIs.
  • New lending platform for “multi-credit” services, Omnicredit, goes live in Romania.
  • Global Finance interviews Alexey Krgulov, Acting Director of Digital Business Platform with Sberbank.

Middle East and Northern Africa

  • Turkey’s Isbank partners with Russian PSP Yandex.Checkout to support e-commerce between the two companies.
  • Disrupt Africa features MerQ, an Egyptian startup that leverages AI to promote financial literacy.
  • AMEinfo publishes its report on banking and fintech in the Middle East and Africa.

Top image designed by Freepik

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Mastercard’s Mobile Payment Service Pay by Bank Teams Up with Yoyo.
  • Trulioo Teams with Refinitiv for Financial Inclusion.
  • Workfusion Brings Robotic Process Automation Global with New Partnership.
  • OneSpan Unveils its Secure Agreement Automation Solution.

Around the web

  • Splitit (formerly PayItSimple) announces partnership with Hong Kong-based EFTPay.
  • bpm’online launches its new tool for collaborative process design, bpm’online Studio Free.
  • Wipro to acquire digital engineering and manufacturing solutions firm, International TechneGroup Inc. (ITI).
  • Business Cloud UK interviews Andrew Bud, CEO and founder of Best of Show winner, iProov.
  • Four Finovate alums – Digital Onboarding, Gremlin Social, Voleo, and Neener Analyticsearn spots in the fourth Venture Center FinTech Accelerator program sponsored by Fidelity Information Services.
  • Inside Secure ships Whitebox Designer, a new software security tool.
  • Featurespace to power transaction monitoring for Permanent TSB.
  • Jumio wins the 2019 Fortress Cyber Security Award for Authentication and Identity from the Business Intelligence Group.

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

  • Tink Secures Strategic Investment from PayPal.
  • InComm Buys Hallmark Cards Subsidiary.

Around the web

  • ACI Worldwide makes strategic investment in Indian digital payments company Mindgate Solutions.
  • Currencycloud and VISA forge partnership to fuel innovation in cross-border and travel payments.
  • Trulioo partners with Refinitiv to improve access to digital identity solutions.
  • German open digital identity scheme yes.com to integrate into Signicat’s Digital Identity Platform.
  • Splitit appoints former Intuit and PayPal Exec to lead North American operations.

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.

Splitit Expands Payment Options with Debit Card Installments

Splitit Expands Payment Options with Debit Card Installments

Splitit, formerly PayItSimple, expanded its offerings this week by launching its installment payment solution for debit cards. The new functionality is available for shoppers at participating merchants in the U.S. and Europe.

The debit card payment tool enables customers to split their purchases of $400 or less into three interest-free monthly payments using their debit card. This is available alongside the company’s flagship offering, which allows customers to split the cost of an item into up to 12 interest-free payments using their credit card, without a credit check or the need to take out a line of new credit.

The New York-based company anticipates the expansion will grow consumers’ purchasing power and allow merchants to offer more payment options and increase sales revenue. Gil Don, CEO and co-founder of Splitit said, “With millions of dollars’ worth of purchases at stake, retailers must ensure a seamless, efficient and customer-centered checkout process, and Splitit is the only payment method solution that truly does this – with no applications, no interest and instant approval. We are happy to be increasing consumer purchasing power, which translates to better outcomes for customers and retailers alike.”

Founded in 2013, Splitit serves 800 merchants in 25 countries. The company launched as PayItSimple at FinovateFall 2014. In June 2016, Splitit launched a plugin in Shopify’s app store that allows merchants using Shopify to integrate Splitit into their checkout process.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • Splitit expands payment options with debit card installments.

Around the web

  • Exela launches Zuma, a new invoice financing platform.
  • Tavant receives HousingWire Tech 100 Award.
  • Horicon Bank teams up with Finastra and Malauzai to launch new digital banking platform.
  • RISK IDENT wins top spot for anti-fraud transaction security at the 2018 FinTech Breakthrough Awards.

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.

Splitit Launches Shopify Plugin

Splitit Launches Shopify Plugin

SplititHomepage

Splitit (formerly PayItSimple), a startup that lets consumers pay for a large ticket over time, has partnered with Shopify to offer merchants access to its payments-plan technology via plugin.

The plugin, now available on Shopify’s app store, allows merchants using Shopify to integrate Splitit into their checkout process. The Splitit tool—enabling Visa and MasterCard cardholders to split purchases into interest-free, monthly payments by leveraging the customer’s existing credit—offers access to Shopify’s 275,000 merchants in 150 countries.

This announcement comes after the New York-based company’s integration with ecommerce platforms WooCommerce and Magento. According to the company, merchants using Splitit on these platforms have seen an average increase of 20% on overall sales within the first two months of implementation.

Founded in 2013, Splitit launched as PayItSimple at FinovateFall 2014. Earlier this month, the company made inroads into the medical billing industry by teaming up with DOCPAY to set up interest-free medical payment plans for patients.

Finovate Alumni News

On Finovate.com

  • “Token Facilitates PSD2 Compliance with New Payment Network”
  • “CrowdFlower Closes on a $10 Million Round Led by Microsoft”
  • “Finovate Debuts: IBM’s Wealth Management Solution Gives Advisers an Edge”
  • “MOX Pay from Malauzai is First to Unveil RDC as Payment Option”

On FinDEVr

  • “Flybits Earns Gartner Cool Vendor Recognition in its Platform-as-a-Service 2016 Report”

Around the web

  • TechCrunch: Dashlane launches a password-management tool for the enterprise.
  • AppsTechNews chats with Kony CTO Bill Bodin on the pace of enterprise app change.
  • “Kabbage Named a CNBC Top Disruptor”
  • Benzinga profiles Betterment CEO Jon Stein.
  • Me/CU to deploy account-processing platform and digital banking suite from Fiserv.
  • Insuritas to power insurance solution for Patelco CU.
  • NICE Actimize teams up with Mphasis to provide anti-fraud, enterprise risk, and compliance solutions.
  • Volate Technologies launches solution for “plug and play” integration with Ripple.
  • ACI Worldwide partners with U.K.-based Raphaels Bank to provide access to the Faster Payments Scheme.

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, FinDEVr Alum News at Money20/20

Finovate, FinDEVr Alum News at Money20/20

Money2020StripeVinod

I spent the majority of last week at Money20/20 catching up with Finovate and FinDEVr alums.

With 5 tracks of panel discussions and product announcements, plus an exhibit hall floor, it was impossible to parcel out all of the themes buzzing around. However, from the slice of the mega-conference that I attended, the overarching theme was payments, specifically, removing friction from the payments experience. This became evident in the product announcements and discussions throughout the keynote sessions from Stripe, Poynt, Chase, Verifone, Google’s AndroidPay, Samsung Pay, PayPal, MCX, and First Data.

In addition to these larger players, there were many smaller companies in attendance. I sat down with five Finovate and FinDEVr alums to find out what’s new.

Arxan-LogoArxan
Arxan, which protects applications, has experienced 50% year-over-year growth for the past 5 years.

Last week the company announced the extension of its application protection to the Apple TV. Arxan safeguards the TV operating system and already protects multiple pre-installed applications on the Apple TV. The apps are shielded using multi-layered guards to fortify the application from being reverse-engineered and compromised and are inserted within the binary code of the applications.

See Arxan’s FinDEVr 2015 presentation.

endeavour logoEndeavour
This was the first time I’ve chatted with Endeavour since they debuted their mobile account opening solution at FinovateSpring 2014. The Austin-based company revealed some crucial news— it was acquired by Genpact, an operational efficiency specialist for enterprise organizations.

The structure of Endeavour’s organization will remain more or less unaffected by the acquisition which Genpact hopes will bolster its Lean Digital offering by adding Endeavour’s mobile expertise.

Kabbage-logoKabbage
Kabbage recently partnered with ING, Santander, and Kikka Capital, and the company is growing fast. These partnerships will help the Atlanta-based company expand operations outside of the U.S. Kabbage is especially targeting the growing ecommerce market in India through its Bangalore office.

Kabbage anticipates originating $1 billion in small business loans in 2015, and is planning a major push into consumer loans next year.

Watch Kabbage’s presentation from FinDEVr 2015 and its demo from FinovateSpring 2015.

SocureSocure
Socure uses a person’s existing online “fingerprint” (Facebook photos, email address, and phone number) to validate their identity. Because Socure sources the data from pre-existing information users to simply take a selfie to validate who they are.

In my discussion with Socure the company disclosed plans to extend its services to verify information for small and medium-sized businesses. Today, this process consists of manually scouring websites for data. Socure’s technology could speed up and streamline that process.

Check out Socure’s demo video from FinovateFall 2015

splititSplitIt (formerly PayItSimple)
SplitIt offers point of sale financing with no interest by placing a hold on the customer’s existing line of credit. The solution launched at FinovateFall 2014 under the name PayItSimple. Alon Feit, the company’s CEO, states that the new name is a better reflection of what the company does.

Since launching last year SplitIt has signed 100 merchant partners and is in negotiations for $14 million in funding. After the round closes the company plans to use the funding to further grow its merchant base, as well as its 15-person team.