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Finovate Blog
Tracking fintech, banking & financial services innovations since 1994
There’s still one more day to enjoy FinovateSpring. But as far as the live demo portion of our program is concerned, the Best of Show celebrations have begun. With that in mind, please join us in congratulating the winners of Best of Show at FinovateSpring 2023.
1Kosmos for its technology that automates user onboarding for workers and customers, protecting against stolen and synthetic identities while eliminating ATO and fraud.
9Spokes for its technology that unlocks the potential of open data, giving financial institutions a powerful set of tools to engage business customers.
Flybits for its personalization platform that enables financial institutions to deliver best-in-class personalized digital banking experiences.
QuickFi for its 100% digital, self-service equipment financing platform that enables business equipment financing in minutes.
SAVVI AI for its technology that helps any FinCo team build and deploy AI apps in minutes. No data scientists, pre-existing data, or custom infrastructure required.
Wink for its biometric payments and identity platform that enables users to say goodbye to passwords and fraud – and say hello to secure and simple authentication.
On behalf of the entire Finovate team, we want to thank all of our demoing companies, our partners, and our sponsors. We also want to express our gratitude toward our attendees in the fintech and financial services industry who bring so much positive energy to our events. We look forward to seeing you again next year right here in San Francisco for FinovateSpring 2024!
Notes on methodology:
1. Only audience members NOT associated with demoing companies were eligible to vote. Finovate employees did not vote.
2. Attendees were encouraged to note their favorites during each day. At the end of the last demo, they chose their three favorites.
3. The exact written instructions given to attendees: “Please rate (the companies) on the basis of demo quality and potential impact of the innovation demoed.”
4. The six companies appearing on the highest percentage of submitted ballots were named “Best of Show.”
5. Go here for a list of previous Best of Show winners through 2014. Best of Show winners from our 2015 through 2023 conferences are below:
With FinovateSpring only days away (May 23 through May 25), this week’s edition of Finovate Global will showcase those innovators demoing at the event that are headquartered outside the United States.
There’s still time to register and join us in San Francisco, California for our annual Spring fintech conference. Visit our FinovateSpring 2023 hub today and get your ticket today!
9Spokes
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in New Zealand, 9Spokes unlocks open banking and data, giving financial institutions a powerful set of tools to engage SMB customers. LinkedIn.
FinTech Insights by Scientia
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in London, U.K., FinTech Insights by Scientia offers a competitive analysis tool for banks and fintechs to help them create compelling digital banking experiences. LinkedIn.
FINTEQ
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Poland, FINTEQ removes credit risk from the supply chain, giving suppliers a healthy and sustainable trade finance alternative. LinkedIn.
Flybits
Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Flybits offers a personalization platform that enables financial institutions to deliver best-in-class personalized digital banking experiences. LinkedIn.
Fundica
Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Fundica is a government funding platform used by some of the largest financial institutions in North America to acquire clients at scale. LinkedIn.
Horizn
Founded in 2012 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, Horizn helps financial institutions maximize the impact of digital and accelerate returns on digital investments with customers and employees. LinkedIn.
HyperSwitch
Founded in 2022 and headquartered in India, HyperSwitch is an open source payments switch designed to make payments fast, reliable, and affordable. LinkedIn.
Kani
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Newcastle, U.K., Kani offers end-to-end reconciliation and reporting, automating the back office for payments companies and fintechs, and ensuring accuracy and compliance. LinkedIn.
Lucinity
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, Lucinity combats financial crime with innovative GenAI technology for smarter and faster FinCrime compliance. LinkedIn.
PayTic
Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Charlottetown, Canada, PayTic is a SaaS platform that automates and manages all key aspects of program management: network fees, reconciliation, reporting, and fraud. LinkedIn.
SESAMm
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Metz, France, SESAMm specializes in big data and artificial intelligence, providing analytics from more than 20 billion articles and messages using NLP. LinkedIn.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Payroll connectivity platform Argyle announced that it has onboarded more than 35 new customers year over year.
The New York-based company also unveiled the latest edition of its platform, Argyle 2.0.
Argyle made its Finovate debut last May at FinovateSpring 2022.
Payroll connectivity platform Argyle is crediting its new customers – more than 35 of them – for doubling the number of customer verifications the company has facilitated year over year. The announcements from the New York-based firm arrive as the company unveils the latest edition of its technology, Argyle 2.0.
“We’ve packaged five years of learning and innovation into our next-gen platform to continue automating critical workflows, reducing business risk, and providing exceptional experiences,” Argyle founder and CEO Shmulik Fishman said. “The growth of our company over the past year echoes the demand for real-time access to reliable, direct-source data.”
Argyle offers businesses direct-source data portability tools for mortgage, lending, banking, background, and tenant screening, among other use cases. With Argyle 2.0 the company seeks to change the way businesses are able to retrieve and use income and employment data – a key factor in expanding access to financial services. Lake Michigan Credit Union VP of Mortgage Strategy John Harpst praised the company’s technology for its ability to provide “a complete picture for the member without the concern that we missed important information that could affect the outcome of their loan approval.”
Argyle’s new platform also features updates to Argyle Link, Console, and API. Argyle Link is the platform’s front-end interface which enables consumers to connect their accounts and share income and employment data with service providers in real-time. Argyle Link also supports the manual upload of income documents. The company notes that it covers more than 210 million U.S. consumers and 95% of Fortune 1000 companies. This enables Argyle to achieve a verification “hit rate” that is 5x better than other solutions.
Founded in 2018, Argyle made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2022. At the conference, company co-founder and COO Billy Marsden demoed the latest design update of Argyle’s platform. The redesign helped increase transparency, decrease drop-off rates, and improve the overall look at feel of the technology for end users.
Argyle has raised more than $77 million in funding, according to Crunchbase. The company’s investors include Bain Capital Ventures and Checkr.
Tyro Payments enables in-person, contactless payments for its users.
The new functionality is made possible courtesy of an integration between Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone and Tyro BYO App.
Tyro Payments made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring 2017.
Australia-based Tyro Payments announced today that its customers in-country can now accept in-person, contactless payments. Courtesy of the new Tyro BYO App, the company’s customers will be able to seamlessly and securely take advantage of Apple’s Tap to Pay on iPhone contactless payment acceptance technology.
“Tap to Pay on iPhone is a fantastic simple and secure way for new or existing Tyro customers to accept payments using only their iPhone, anytime, anywhere – without the need for additional hardware,” Tyro CEO Jon Davey said. “We are excited to provide this new offering to our customers, providing greater flexibility when staff are working on-site or on the move.”
Tap to Pay on iPhone only requires an iPhone and the Tyro BYO app in order to accept contactless payments. These payment options include Apple Pay, contactless credit and debit cards, as well as other digital wallets. To use Tap to Pay on iPhone, users simply need to hold their Apple mobile device (iPhone or Apple Watch) near the merchant’s iPhone. Payments are completed securely using NFC technology. PIN entry, with multiple accessibility options, is also available. Tap to Pay on iPhone users also benefit from Apple’s commitment to privacy and security insofar as Apple does not store card numbers on the mobile device nor on its servers.
Founded in 2003 and headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Tyro Payments made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring in 2017. At the event, the firm demoed its first lending product, Smart Growth Funding. This offering became the first lending solution released by an Australian challenger bank. In the years since then, Tyro has grown into a leading paytech with more than 600 employees; more than 66,000 customers; and more than $150 billion in transactions since inception. Going public in 2019, the company celebrated its 20th year in operation in February.
“From Australia’s largest EFTPOS provider outside the big four to streamlined business lending and banking products, I’m proud of how Tyro is powering the future of payments and business, both now and into the future,” Davey said.
FinovateSpring 2023 is only days away! If you have already registered for our annual spring fintech conference – May 23 through May 25 – great! We’re looking forward to showing you the latest innovations from many of fintech’s most exciting companies. We’re also happy to be returning to San Francisco, California – where there’s plenty of opportunity for both networking and leisure when the conference day is done.
And if you have not already registered, then there’s no better time than the present to visit our FinovateSpring 2023 hub and save your spot. To whet your appetite, here’s a look back at what the Best of Show winners from last year’s event have been up to in the time since taking home Finovate’s top prize.
Pictured: Leigh Gross, SVP, Sales and Business Development
Demoed Array’s financial enablement platform, specializing in embeddable tools and white label solutions, used by leading financial institutions. Demo video.
Updates since Spring 2022
Partnered with Jack Henry to offer consumers personalized credit and financial insights.
Teamed up with Alkami to helps banks boost digital engagement.
Integrated with Q2’s digital banking platform to offer products including My Credit Manager.
Demoed FinGoal’s insights platform that cleans, enriches, and analyzes personal financial data to better understand users and provide actionable insights. Demo video.
Pictured: Colm Bermingham, Director Sales | Steve Frook, SVP Global Sales
Demoed Horizn’s platform that helps banks globally accelerate digital banking knowledge, fluency, and adoption with both customers and employees. Demo video.
Updates since Spring 2022
Partnered with ebankIT to support digital transformation.
Won Best of Show at FinovateFall 2022 in New York.
Teamed up with Coventry Building Society to provide skill development for branch workers.
Pictured: Rob Frohwein, CEO | Troy Deus, Co-founder & Head of Experience
Demoed Keep Financial Technology’s innovation that solves the hiring and retention challenges of companies by introducing a new form of employee compensation called Cash Vesting Plans. Demo video.
Updates since Spring 2022
Raised $9 million in seed funding in a round led by Andreessen Horowitz.
Launched its Keep compensation platform and initial Keep Vesting Cash Plans.
Introduced KEEP Performing, adding defined goals to its platform.
Embedded finance company Highnote is powering the new card program from SKUx.
SKUx is a payments technology and consumer engagement platform headquartered in Florida.
San Francisco, California-based Highnote made its Finovate debut last May at FinovateSpring 2022.
SKUx, a payments technology and consumer engagement platform, has launched a new card program. The company has teamed up with embedded finance company Highnote to power the new offering. SKUx noted in a statement that the partnership will help the Florida-based company continue to innovate in the disbursements space.
Highnote’s card platform technology enables a range of solutions from SKUx. Among these products are SKUx Customer Care and Recovery, which streamlines the product recall process, and SKUx Crisis Disbursements, which streamlines emergency payments to individuals. These new solutions join SKUx’s flagship solution, SKUPay, for product-based payments redeemed at the point of purchase.
In a statement, SKUx co-founder and President Bobby Tinsley highlighted the “magnitude of money” that moves between merchants and customers. Tinsley also bemoaned the fact that so much of these flows take place over “outdated and clunky” systems. He added, “We are obsessed with powering the best experiences by providing payments at the speed of today’s consumer – designing products optimized for digital wallets, mobile payments, and QR codes. Our partnership with Highnote enables us to continue this vision at both the quality and service our clients demand.”
Founded in 2021, Highnote is based in San Francisco, California. The company made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring last year. At the conference, Highnote demoed its GraphQL API-based card issuance platform, showing how the technology enables organizations to make card issuance an embedded feature in their solution. The platform uses notifications and SDKs to empower developer teams to bring card products to market quickly. A no-code dashboard enables management and support, as well as providing product-wide visibility.
“The average consumer has become more digitally savvy, and their expectations around ease of use and instant access to funds have risen,” Highnote CEO John MacIlwaine said. “SKUx has tapped into this trend by providing more elegant and modern solutions to consumer needs, and we couldn’t be more proud to be their enabler in driving this digital transformation.”
Highnote has raised more than $104 million in funding. The company’s investors include Costanoa Ventures and Oak HC/FT.
Business automation specialist Kognitos raised $6.75 million in seed funding. The investment takes the company’s total capital to $9.35 million.
Kognitos leverages Generative AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to enable business users to build automations using “English as code.”
Kognitos made its Finovate debut at FinovateSpring last year.
Here’s a funding announcement from a new alum that slipped beneath our radar. Business automation solution provider Kognitosraised $6.75 million in seed funding earlier this year. The round was led by Clear Ventures. Engineering Capital and Wipro Ventures, the corporate investment arm of Wipro, also participated. The investment takes Kognitos’ total funding to $9.35 million.
Kognitos will use the capital to expand its cloud-based Koncierge platform. The platform leverages an AI engine that interprets English as well as humans do. This enables businesses to build automations using natural language. Koncierge blends business data and logic with logic learning machine (LLM) technology to automate business processes at cloud scale.
“It’s time for computers to behave like humans, and humans to stop behaving like machines,” Kognitos founder and CEO Binny Gill said. He referred to the technology as an “unprecedented engine that runs English as Code.” He also noted that now “anyone can describe what they want to be automated, and their automation is generated – all in auditable English. That means no developers, no complex tools, no bots.”
Kognitos’ technology responds to two challenges. On the one hand there is a growing opportunity in business automation. On the other hand, there is a relative lack of skilled workers in the automation field. Kognitos’ solution tackles these issues with a combination of Generative AI and NLP to enable automation of a wide variety of processes from invoicing processing and insurance claims to credit card payment reconciliation. The ability to use natural language also gives Kognitos’ technology an advantage over many no code/low code solutions. This is because those technologies still require the involvement of IT and other service providers. Clear Ventures founder and General Partner Rajeev Madhavan underscored the value of avoiding this obligation. “Kognitos already has several customers using this capability in production,” Madhavan said, “saving significant time and resources in their businesses, without the need for developers.”
Founded in 2020, Kognitos made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring 2022. At the conference, Gill and VP of Growth Jason Langone explained how its business automation solution helps all business users contribute to the company’s competitive advantage. By enabling them to build automations and microservices with NLP and Generative AI, Kognitos technology empowers users and helps remove obstacles and technical barriers-to-entry for a wide variety for businesses.
Kognitos is headquartered in San Jose, California.
This week’s edition of Finovate Global takes a look at recent fintech developments involving companies headquartered in France.
First up is news that European Buy Now, Pay Later firm Alma has partnered with BNP Paribas and new Finovate alum Numeral to automate payments.
“As part of our goal to create the most fluid and seamless experience for both merchants and customers, paying our 11,000 and growing merchants reliably and efficiently is critical,” Alma COO and co-founder Guillaume Desloges said. “Numeral enables us to scale with confidence and focus on our core business.”
Alma Finance and Strategy Senior Manager Simon Shohet explained that the integration of Numeral into both its systems as well as BNP Paribas’ systems, audit trails, and approval rules will enable automation of the process of managing “thousands of daily payments at scale.” Shohet added, “Thanks to Numeral, we can focus on the most critical incidents and rapidly solve merchant’s issues.”
Alma plans to eventually use Numeral’s platform to become a SEPA participant via BNP Paribas. This would enable Alma to issue IBANs in its own name, a strategic advantage for the firm.
Numeral made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in London earlier this year. At the conference, the Paris-based company showed how financial institutions can leverage Numeral’s platform to automatically send, receive, and reconcile SEPA payments. The platform also enables financial institutions to manage payment errors via SEPA R transactions. The company is on track to process €5B in 2023.
Also this week, we learned that Revolut will begin offering customer credit products in France at the end of the month. The company announced that consumer loans will be available to Revolut’s more than two million French users starting on May 30th.
Revolut currently offers lending products in other European markets. These markets include Ireland, Lithuania, and Romania. Mortgage products are not part of the current package. But Revolut VP of Growth Antoine Le Nel said that these products are in the pipeline.
Thanks to Revolut’s embrace of open banking, prospective borrowers will be able to apply for loans without having to deal with hardcopy paperwork. Instead, applicants will get virtual “instant feedback” on their loan requests. Loans come with zero opening fees and are available from as low as €1,000 to as high as €50,000. Terms range from three months to 84 months and interest rates range from a low of 3.9% to 21.12%.
France has earned a reputation for being friendly to the cryptocurrency industry. This week’s news of a partnership between Canada’s Advanced Payment Solutions (APS), Cyprus’ Armenotech, and France’s Tempo France is another modest testament to this.
Back in at the beginning of the year, Armenotech and payments company Tempo Finance teamed up to develop an ecosystem supported by the Stellar blockchain. This week, we learn that London-based Advanced Payment Solutions has joined the pact.
APS CEO Serik Igbayev highlighted the importance of giving businesses the ability to work with traditional and digital assets. And in a statement, Igbayev praised the partnership with Armenotech for playing a key role in making this happen. “Clients increasingly demonstrate a demand for services that would enable them to operate both traditional and digital assets, combining various payment methods,” Igbayev said. “We have successfully been using state-of-the-art Armenotech solutions to meet this demand.” These solutions included tools that facilitate the conversion between fiat and digital assets, as well as products for fraud protection, security, KYC, and ALM.
Tempo France is serving as the corporate payment operator for the alliance. Founded in 2008 and headquartered in Paris, Tempo France provides a fast and secure bridge between cash and cryptocurrencies. The company offers online, offline, and digitally backed remittances to nearly 100 countries with more than 300 physical agent locations. Alla Zhedik is CEO.
Here is our look at fintech innovation around the world.
Asian-American entrepreneurs, founders, and technologists have been demoing fintech innovations on the Finovate stage from the very start. In 2008, the first year Finovate hosted fintech conferences on the West coast as well as the East, we were thrilled to showcase Weiting Liu of SocialPicks, Peter Pham of BillShrink, and Kenneth Lin of Credit Karma.
Fifteen years later, Asian-Americans continue to play a major role in driving fintech innovation – and in demoing those innovations live on the Finovate stage. Here is a look back at those Asian-American fintech and financial services professionals who led live demos at our conferences in New York and San Francisco last year in 2022.
FinovateSpring 2022 – Coinme – Sung Choi, SVP Strategy & Business Development
FinovateSpring 2022 – HAWK:AI – Steve Liú, General Manager North America
FinovateSpring 2022 – JUDI.AI – Su Ning Strube, Chief Product Officer
FinovateSpring 2022 – Prelim – Heang Chan, CEO and Co-Founder
FinovateFall 2022 – PennyWorks – Ivan Zhang, CEO and Co-Founder
FinovateFall 2022 – Supply Wisdom – Shaun Wong, Head of Product
FinovateSpring 2023 is right around the corner – May 23 through 25 in San Francisco, California. Early-bird savings end on Friday, so register today and save your spot!
Global information services company Experian launched a new fraud prevention solution this week.
The new offfering is a fintech-focused version of its fraud prevention data network Hunter.
Hunter takes a collaborative approach to fraud mitigation. The technology has saved businesses more than $6.5 billion a year in fraud losses.
Experianis launching a fintech-focused version of its fraud prevention data network, Hunter, in the U.S. The technology is currently being used by more than 450 organizations in 24 different countries. Experian reports that Hunter has saved its clients more than $6.5 billion a year in fraud losses.
Hunter works by providing participants with a “line of sight” into borrower activity across the fintech industry. A collaborative data network, Hunter enables participants to share data on fraudulent activity in real-time. That data is then securely linked across the network. Participants can use the network to identify potential fraud when onboarding new customers or when verifying current customers. Experian noted that its clients have seen a 35% increase in fraud detection when participating in a Hunter network.
“Our new U.S. Hunter network will harness the power of data and analytics to address real pain points that fintechs experience in combatting fraud,” President at Experian Decision Analytics in North America Robert Boxberger said. “By taking a collaborative approach, fintechs can use this additional data to make more informed decisions that enable smart portfolio growth, improve the customer experience, and mitigate major fraud losses.”
The Hunter network will be available in the U.S. later this year, the company said.
Experian made its Finovate debut in 2012 and most recently returned to the Finovate stage for FinovateFall 2018 in New York. The company’s Hunter announcement comes just weeks after Experian unveiled a new cloud-based fraud solution powered by adaptive machine learning called Aidrian. The new offering is designed to help businesses fight fraud without negatively impacting the customer experience. Last month, Clearcover Insurance Company announced that it had launched a new embedded insurance solution courtesy of a partnership with Experian. The technology gives insurance consumers final, bindable quotes when they shop using Experian’s auto insurance comparison shopping service.
Headquarted in Dublin, Ireland, Experian was founded in 1980. Brian Cassin is CEO.
U.K.-based renttech company Goodlord announced a partnership with open banking platform Tink this week.
Goodlord will leverage Tink Income Check to help landlords enhance their reference checking process.
Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Tink is a two-time Finovate Best of Show winner.
Goodlord, a renttech platform based in the U.K., has announced a partnership with open banking platform Tink. Goodlord will use Tink Income Check as part of its effort to modernize its tenant application process. The technology will also help Goodlord enhance its fraud protection for both agents and landlords.
Tink Income Check will enable Goodlord to bring real-time data directly from tenant bank accounts to its reference checking processes. With the consent of the renter, landlords will be able to verify income from salaries, pensions, and more going back 12 months or longer. Tink Income Check also optimizes approval rates and reduces both fraud and application abandonment. The technology serves as an alternative to the standard affordability check.
“We’re very pleased to be partnering with Tink on our open banking capabilities,” Goodlord Referencing Operations Manager Nicola Harding said. “We’ve long been advocates of open banking technology. It plays a crucial role in both modernizing the process for tenants, while also protecting agents and their landlords from fraud.”
Founded in 2017, Goodlord was launched to help smooth the process of renting properties – for all parties involved. By 2020, the company had processed one billion pounds via its platform. A year later, Goodlord announced that it had 1,000 agency customers. The company’s technology works along with the landlord’s or agency’s CRM to manage the entire tenancy process – from offer letter to rent collection.
“In the current climate, it’s more critical than ever to have an up-to-date and comprehensive view of tenants’ finances, to know they can comfortably afford the rent,” Tink’s U.K. Banking & Lending Director Tasha Chouhan said. “It also ensures those renters whose income payments are irregular, such as the self-employed or those working in the gig economy, have a fairer chance to secure a rental property.”
A two-time Finovate Best of Show award winner, Tink most recently demoed its technology at FinovateEurope 2019. This year alone, the Stockholm, Sweden-based fintech has announced partnerships with credit provider Younited, Italian fintech ConTe.it Prestiti, and Finland-based Multitude Bank.
Open Banking infrastructure company Axway has acquired Belgium-based e-invoicing specialist AdValvas.
The acquisition brings new invoicing and compliance capabilities to Arizona-based Axway.
Axway made its Finovate debut last year at FinovateSpring in San Francisco.
Open Banking infrastructure company Axway has made an overseas acquisition. The Arizona-based fintech acquired AdValvas, a Belgium-based e-invoicing processes specialist. The purchase underscores Axway’s status as a leader in B2B integration and EDI and brings new invoicing and compliance capabilities to the firm. These new capabilities include embedded support for Peppol and French VAT reform – as well as other B2G (business-to-goverment) and B2B e-invoicing mandates around the world.
Neither Axway nor AdValvas disclosed the amount of the transaction.
The acquisition comes at a time of greater regulatory interest in e-invoicing. Regulators are debating new requirements for B2B invoicing in France. In the EU overall, B2G e-invoicing is currently mandatory for all public procurements. The trend toward Continuous Transaction Control provides additional impetus for firms to embrace e-invoicing.
“AdValvas has been at the forefront of Peppol and e-invoicing for the past decade, helping steer the direction of invoice compliance around the globe,” Axway CEO Patrick Donovan said. “We are thrilled to welcome AdValvas and look forward to leveraging their deep expertise to help our customers navigate the delicate compliance waters ahead.”
Michel Gillis, formerly CEO of AdValvas, will serve as VP of e-invoicing with Axway. He called the acquisition a “significant milestone” in AdValvas’ “growth journey.” Going forward, AdValvas will operate as an Axway subsidiary. The company’s products and services will be integrated into Axway’s B2B Integration platform.
Axway made its Finovate debut a year ago at FinovateSpring in San Francisco. At the conference, the company demoed how its Open Banking technology enabled the secure sharing of financial data across digital ecosystems. Axway offers configured open banking APIs; an intuitive, collaboration-friendly developer experience; and pre-configured consent management integration to minimize risk.
