Author: TheFintechBuzz.com

creatio-hosts-the-first-in-history-event-for-financial-services-industry-focused-on-no-code-technologies

Creatio Hosts the First in History Event for Financial Services Industry Focused on No-code Technologies

August 26, 2021 Published by

 

Creatio, a global software company that provides a leading low-code/no-code platform for process management and CRM, is inviting professionals from the Financial Services industry to its unparalleled online event No-code Day: Finserv Industry on October 5th. The virtual conference is aimed at equipping its attendees with knowledge and skills to drive innovation, leverage talent with a no-code approach, and improve the efficiency of front and middle-office.

No-code Day: Finserv Industry features six sessions for varying roles in finance, over 30 expert speakers, and vetted practical content to help master strategic skills. During the online event, attendees will learn about latest tech trends, innovative approaches to doing business today, applying the no-code approach to different modern banking functions, and ways to gain a competitive advantage on the market to meet customer expectations.

“We recognize that financial organizations are under pressure of being disrupted by fintech startups, and a no-code development approach can address that threat. No-code offers immense potential to businesses; it allows for the engagement of employees without coding skills into workflow automation projects, thus speeding up and scaling the business transformation process,” said Creatio CEO and Founder Katherine Kostereva.

The event sessions include:

  • Consumer Banking — a step-by-step guide on how to connect with retail customers in a new way.
  • Business Banking — practical suggestions on building stronger relationships with business clients through data insights and seamless interaction.
  • Customer Experience —illustrative examples on how to enhance your client excellence.
  • Governance, risk and compliance — best practices on how to improve decision quality and reduce risks.
  • Lending, loan recovery, and payments — insights on bring innovation to reduce complexity and improve decision accuracy.
  • Corporate functions and middle office – recommendations on how to streamline internal workflows and operations.

To stay up to date on the conference agenda, speaker lineup and to save your spot, register here.

majority-of-msmes-favour-daily-emis,-automatic-deduction-from-bank-accounts-for-credit-repayment,-data-from-solv-reveals

Majority of MSMEs favour daily EMIs, automatic deduction from bank accounts for credit repayment, data from Solv reveals

August 26, 2021 Published by

 

Solv, a B2B e-commerce platform for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) conducted a survey of 1000+ MSMEs to understand their credit and repayment needs and preferences. The objective was to uncover insights to help various stakeholders address the USD 300 Billion+ credit gap in the MSME segment, especially considering the government’s recent guidelines bringing retail and wholesale trade under the MSME category. The new guidelines will potentially benefit crores of retail and wholesale traders, making them eligible for priority sector lending (PSL) benefits under RBI guidelines.

Credit Demand 

In terms of demand for credit, the survey found that 90% of retailer touch points across categories have seen higher sales in the last 3 months vis-a-vis 2020, implying a need for easy access to small ticket size collateral-free loans to improve working capital and sales. It also found that 90% of supply chain participants in high volume commodity segments are actively seeking collateral-free loans of up to Rs. 3 Lakh.

Repayment Preferences

The survey also uncovered interesting insights about MSMEs’ preferences for repayment. More than 50% of retailers and wholesalers said they are willing to pay in 7-15 days instalments. More than 95% of respondents indicated they would pay back loans within 30 days if given the option of daily repayment or daily EMIs. Most small retailers willing to pay daily EMI are comfortable paying Rs. 500 or Rs. 2000 daily to ease their repayment burden and help them get better access to revolving credit. Interestingly, more than 50% of micro and small businesses said they would like to ease the repayment process through automatic deduction from their bank accounts.

Collection of Payments

On collection of payments from customers, the survey found that while cash is still the most preferred mode, there has been a sharp 3X rise in collections through UPI vis-à-vis debit and credit card payments. 90%+ of small and micro businesses have a UPI QR code, while only 20% have a PO machine for debit/credit card acceptance in their shops.

Online B2B Platforms

Interestingly, more than 90% of small retailers, wholesalers and traders felt that online B2B e-commerce platforms customized for MSMEs would help them grow their business faster in terms of getting better rates to procure goods, accessing cheaper and faster credit, and increasing sales.

Solv has already launched Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) facility for the MSME sector. With the alternate data on its B2B e-commerce platform, Solv provides segment analysis to match financier and borrower requirements. New age fintechs and traditional lenders that are a part of Solv’s network of financial service providers, have been offering invoice financing through BNPL to small businesses via the platform. At a time when traditional lenders have been relatively risk-averse due to a weak economy, the BNPL facility has helped small businesses to service their immediate requirements without feeling severe financial strain, with more time at their disposal to make payments.

prime-venture-partners-announces-fund-iv-of-us$100-million,-with-a-first-close-of-$75-million-(inr-556-crore)

Prime Venture Partners Announces Fund IV of US$100 million, with a First Close of $75 million (INR 556 crore)

August 25, 2021 Published by

 

Prime Venture Partners, today announced its fourth fund of US$100 million, with a first close of $75 million (INR 556 crore). Prime had raised its last fund of $72M in 2018, a second fund of $46M in 2015 and a $8M first fund in 2012. It will continue to focus on being the first institutional investor, maintaining its high-conviction and deep-support investing model in early-stage technology startups. In addition to existing focus areas of Fintech, EdTech, HealthTech, Consumer Internet and Global SaaS, the firm expects to expand into new areas, notably Decentralised Finance (DeFi)/Crypto, Electric Vehicle and Gaming infrastructure platforms. Prime also announced that it is actively looking to expand its leadership team by adding a fourth partner.

Amidst the pandemic, the entire fund raise was done virtually and reflects the continued interest and support that Prime is drawing from institutional investors globally. Fund Four investors include the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, a top-tier university endowment, several returning family offices and institutions, and numerous global technology entrepreneurs, reflecting the team’s strong network of relationships across the industry in both the US and South East Asia.

Founded in 2012 by Shripati Acharya and Sanjay Swamy, Prime added Amit Somani as a partner in 2015. With a view of bringing Silicon Valley style professionalism to venture investing, Prime’s mission is to partner early with entrepreneurs and help build world-class technology companies that are addressing some of India’s most important problems. Prime is typically the first institutional investor and focuses on companies with an innovative approach to solving fundamental problems through technology. The firm follows a model of being highly selective and invests in only 5-6 companies a year, after building deep conviction in entrepreneurs and their startups through a rapid yet thorough diligence process. A common theme among Prime portfolio companies is strong product and technology teams with unique insights and an ability to iterate rapidly. Portfolio companies work closely with all partners during the formative phase of the business, collaborating through the Product-Market Fit phase and establish early growth. The firm actively supports entrepreneurs with business and product strategy, refining operating metrics, hiring, partnerships, marketing, finance, all the way through raising subsequent capital.

Prime has a strong track record of investing in early-stage startups in India. As per the Cambridge Associates benchmarks, all of Prime’s funds are in the top decile of all global VC funds of their respective vintages. Funds I to III are committed across 32 companies spanning sectors such as fintech, healthcare, SaaS, education and logistics. Most of these companies have gone on to raise strong follow-on rounds of investment from other leading institutional investors in India, Silicon Valley and Asia. While most of Prime’s portfolio companies are focussed on the booming Digital India opportunity, Prime also has several companies that target the US, Middle East and other International markets, or that initially start in India and expand from India to other geographies.

Some of the notable Prime portfolio companies include the interactive learning startup Quizziz which is used by teachers in 120 countries and is backed by marquee investors such as Tiger Global, Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and others. MyGate provides security software solutions for apartments that are being used across 20,000 societies and in 3.5 million households. Digital Health startup MFine is backed by SBI Holdings (Japan) & Heritas & clocks 12,000 daily consultations with more than 600 hospitals as partners. Remote Patient Monitoring startup Dozee which is transforming the Indian public healthcare infrastructure, India’s leading universal neobank NiYO, Pay-after placement management program Sunstone Eduversity are some of the other category-creating, high-growth startups in the Prime portfolio.

pngme,-raises-$15m-series-a-to-power-the-future-of-financial-services-in-africa

Pngme, Raises $15M Series A to Power the Future of Financial Services in Africa

August 24, 2021 Published by

 

Pngme, the financial data infrastructure and machine learning-as-a-service platform, has raised a further $15 million in Series A funding as it sets out to grow its financial data platform. The round was led by Octopus Ventures and comes less than a year after its $3 million seed round.

Across the financial services sector, financial institutions and fintechs are racing to offer fully customized user experiences and financial products tailored to their customers’ needs. Pngme allows financial institutions and fintechs to collect and aggregate financial data at scale. Its mobile SDK and data processing pipelines make it easy to collect alternative financial data and unify it with other data sources to create a holistic picture of an individual’s financial behavior.

Octopus Ventures are joined by Lateral Capital, Unshackled Ventures, Raptor Group, Two Small Fish Ventures, Aruwa Capital Management, Future Africa, EchoVC, The51 and a talented group of individual angel investors including RallyCap’s Hayden Simmons, Plaid’s Dan Khan, former COO of RBC Capital Markets Richard Talbot, and Intersect VC’s Kyle Ellicott among others. 

“When we first met the team, they blew us away with a grand vision and deep understanding of the financial services challenges on the continent. The elegance of the technology solution, combined with an exceptional team and strong market traction with large institutions underlines our belief that Pngme will power the next generation of financial services in Africa.” Tosin Agbabiaka, fintech investor at Octopus Ventures 

Pngme is using the Series A to expand its executive team with the hiring of Lorraine Kageni Maina as Chief Strategy Officer and Nick Masson as Chief Technology Officer. Lorraine brings corporate experience in sub-Saharan Africa from Banking, FMCG, and Technology. Nick led large enterprise scale engineering teams at WeWork and joins Pngme with an ambitious vision to scale Pngme’s cutting edge technology.

“With this fresh injection of capital we are not only scaling up our data processing and machine learning capabilities, but also building a robust team that can deliver on our mission of financial inclusion.” Brendan Playford, CEO of Pngme

Pngme’s partners include a global credit bureau, Renmoney, Credpal, Simplefi, Kuda and other Tier 1 African Banks who use the Pngme platform and their data science services to offer data and machine learning-driven products and user experiences to their customers.

“Pngme’s infrastructure has processed billions of data points from hundreds of financial institutions across sub-Saharan Africa and we plan to double down on our Insights Library and expand our third party data connections to other markets over the next year.” Cate Rung, COO of Pngme

pngme,-raises-$15m-series-a-to-power-the-future-of-financial-services-in-africa

Pngme, Raises $15M Series A to Power the Future of Financial Services in Africa

August 24, 2021 Published by

 

Pngme, the financial data infrastructure and machine learning-as-a-service platform, has raised a further $15 million in Series A funding as it sets out to grow its financial data platform. The round was led by Octopus Ventures and comes less than a year after its $3 million seed round.

Across the financial services sector, financial institutions and fintechs are racing to offer fully customized user experiences and financial products tailored to their customers’ needs. Pngme allows financial institutions and fintechs to collect and aggregate financial data at scale. Its mobile SDK and data processing pipelines make it easy to collect alternative financial data and unify it with other data sources to create a holistic picture of an individual’s financial behavior.

Octopus Ventures are joined by Lateral Capital, Unshackled Ventures, Raptor Group, Two Small Fish Ventures, Aruwa Capital Management, Future Africa, EchoVC, The51 and a talented group of individual angel investors including RallyCap’s Hayden Simmons, Plaid’s Dan Khan, former COO of RBC Capital Markets Richard Talbot, and Intersect VC’s Kyle Ellicott among others. 

“When we first met the team, they blew us away with a grand vision and deep understanding of the financial services challenges on the continent. The elegance of the technology solution, combined with an exceptional team and strong market traction with large institutions underlines our belief that Pngme will power the next generation of financial services in Africa.” Tosin Agbabiaka, fintech investor at Octopus Ventures 

Pngme is using the Series A to expand its executive team with the hiring of Lorraine Kageni Maina as Chief Strategy Officer and Nick Masson as Chief Technology Officer. Lorraine brings corporate experience in sub-Saharan Africa from Banking, FMCG, and Technology. Nick led large enterprise scale engineering teams at WeWork and joins Pngme with an ambitious vision to scale Pngme’s cutting edge technology.

“With this fresh injection of capital we are not only scaling up our data processing and machine learning capabilities, but also building a robust team that can deliver on our mission of financial inclusion.” Brendan Playford, CEO of Pngme

Pngme’s partners include a global credit bureau, Renmoney, Credpal, Simplefi, Kuda and other Tier 1 African Banks who use the Pngme platform and their data science services to offer data and machine learning-driven products and user experiences to their customers.

“Pngme’s infrastructure has processed billions of data points from hundreds of financial institutions across sub-Saharan Africa and we plan to double down on our Insights Library and expand our third party data connections to other markets over the next year.” Cate Rung, COO of Pngme

visa-and-ascenda-partner-on-next-gen-loyalty-and-rewards-in-asia-pacific

Visa and Ascenda partner on next-gen loyalty and rewards in Asia Pacific

August 24, 2021 Published by

 

Visa, the world leader in digital payments, today announced a strategic partnership in Asia Pacific with Ascenda, the loyalty technology company. The payments network will be first globally to leverage Ascenda’s new Nexus platform, which will enable Visa’s partners to adopt a comprehensive new rewards program for their customers.

Reward programs continue to evolve as consumer preferences and behaviours change, in line with larger trends on how people shop. The rise of eCommerce has created new habits and opportunities to engage before, during and after the transaction. The increased role that data plays in the average consumer’s day has led to greater expectations around receiving personalised rewards instead of a general set of benefits. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional benefits like air miles have been less easily used.

With this backdrop of a changing environment, the Visa and Ascenda partnership means card issuers, like banks or fintechs, can deploy rewards programs that are easy to implement and use, in a fraction of the typical lead-time. The digital rewards portal powered by Ascenda comes with offers and promotions from leading merchants via Visa Offers Exchange and Ascenda’s global network.

Rapid implementation of the new platform is possible because the traditional integration points required for new loyalty solutions are removed. By leveraging Visa’s latest API services, Ascenda authenticates customers securely and identifies payment transactions that are eligible for rewards – with minimal action required from the issuer.

Chris Clark, regional president, Asia Pacific, Visa, said, “As Visa evolves our business beyond cards, reward programs are becoming more digital, more engaging, more personalised, and easier to adapt to new opportunities. Our partnership with Ascenda ensures Visa is able to deliver loyalty platforms that match the pace of digital adoption our bank and fintech partners need.”

“Visa and Ascenda already have a strong track record of partnering to equip top-tier banks with leading customer engagement solutions,” said Sebastian Grobys, chief commercial officer at Ascenda. “With Visa now leveraging our new Nexus model and integrating Visa’s existing engagement solutions for rapid deployment, we are unlocking significantly greater scale for our collaboration going forward.”

The Visa-Ascenda rewards solution is being rolled out progressively across Asia Pacific.

drivewealth-raises-$450m-series-d-valuing-the-company-at-$2.85b

DriveWealth Raises $450M Series D Valuing The Company At $2.85B

August 20, 2021 Published by

 

DriveWealth Holdings, Inc., a pioneer in fractional trading and embedded finance, today announced a $450 million Series D with a valuation of $2.85 billion, co-led by New York-based global private equity and venture capital investor Insight Partners and Accel, with significant participation by Greyhound Capital, Softbank Vision Fund, and Series C lead Point72 Ventures. The round also included a follow-on investment from Fidelity International, plus several new investors including Base 10, FTX, and FlightDeck.

DriveWealth will use the Series D investment to execute its strategic vision of becoming the category leader of embedded investing across digital wallets and brokerage apps on every continent. This raise will fund continued product and service expansion, talent acquisition, and technology innovation to build the most modern, industrial-strength infrastructure in brokerage to support the firm’s and its partners’ future growth. The funding will also be used to launch self-clearing and accelerate execution via strategic acquisitions and partnerships.

DriveWealth’s mission is to democratize investing globally by working with partners to invent new ways to use its API-based technology to provide emerging investors with cutting-edge embedded experiences, often first-time access to U.S. markets, and the ability to begin investing with as little as $1. DriveWealth is committed to empowering consumers around the world to become owners by delivering the most modern brokerage infrastructure, unparalleled industry expertise, and a culture of continued evolution.

“We are in the early innings of a worldwide retail investing revolution,” said Bob Cortright, founder and CEO of DriveWealth. “Our goal is for DriveWealth to be the partner of choice to deliver the embedded investing experience of the future. This new capital and investor engagement will accelerate our global expansion plans in order to become the world-class, exchange-like technology company that powers tomorrow’s investing products.”

“The proliferation of digital wallets and democratization of investing has led to DriveWealth’s incredible growth and user adaptation to date, and the company’s institutional-grade brokerage execution delivers a seamless process to access equities globally. We look forward to partnering with the company as they continue to expand to meet the needs of today, and innovate for the demands of tomorrow’s fintech ecosystem.”
Deven Parekh, Insight Partners

“The increasing demand for financial services has left fintech companies eager to expand their products and drive engagement. With DriveWealth’s unique combination of brokerage experts and technology, fintechs can get to market quickly and scale.”
Matt Weigand, Accel

“Like DriveWealth, we believe that the future of investing is mobile, transactional and fractional, and that the retail revolution, coupled with ever increasing advances in digital wallet technology, will transform the investing landscape and financial services over the next decade. We are excited to partner with the team and support their mission to democratize investing globally.”
Ines Verschueren, Greyhound Capital

DriveWealth welcomes the strategic support and engagement of two new board members, Deven Parekh from Insight Partners and Matthew Weigand from Accel. Tripp Shriner from Point72 Ventures, who led DriveWealth’s Series C round, will continue contributing in his role as board member.

verifyvasp-launches-a-travel-rule-solution-in-singapore

VerifyVASP Launches a Travel Rule Solution in Singapore

August 19, 2021 Published by

 

VerifyVASP has officially launched its travel rule compliance solution today. VerifyVASP is a Singapore-based B2B service provider that is established specifically to assist virtual asset service providers (“VASP”) to comply with FATF’s Travel Rule requirements. The Travel Rule is an AML-initiative that requires VASP to share or exchange relevant information to mitigate against AML and CFT risks. The FATF Travel Rule Recommendation has been adopted into Singapore regulation via MAS Notice PSN02.

VerifyVASP was developed in close collaboration with Lambda256 Inc. and the design architecture is based upon a decentralized protocol that facilitates information sharing between VASP, immediately and securely, via API communication while utilizing strong encryption algorithm to secure data in transmission. On its decentralized architecture, VerifyVASP protocol mitigates the risk associated with the sharing and transmission of personal data whilst supporting the transfer of all types of digital asset. Additionally, in collaboration with Chainalysis, VerifyVASP will highlight AML/CFT risk related information upon any alerted digital asset transfer. VerifyVASP adopts the interVASP Messaging Standard (IVMS101) data format which help harmonise common messaging standard, paving the way for future inter-operability with other solution providers. To demonstrate its robustness, effectiveness, security and governance, VerifyVASP is in the process of an independent audit of its solution under SOC2 and OSPAR standard.

“With the increasing focus by most governments and regulators to implement FATF’s travel rule, the VerifyVASP solution is a very timely initiative for the digital asset industry to enable VASP to foster their monitoring control and be regulatory compliant, whilst minimising the disruption on the business operation of the VASPs,” said VerifyVASP spokesperson.

VerifyVASP is currently open to onboard VASPs, who are required to comply with FATF’s Travel Rule or MAS Value Transfer and will provide exclusive benefit to commemorate its official launch. As a member of Singapore’s Fintech Association and Blockchain Association of Singapore, VerifyVASP welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with VASPs, other solution providers, various regulatory authorities, industry bodies, blockchain associations and other stakeholders from the industry. VerifyVASP will regularly consult and solicit feedback in its bid to continuously strive towards facilitating a smooth, expedient and cost friendly regulatory compliant solution.

varo-bank-ranks-7th-on-the-2021-inc.-5000

Varo® Bank Ranks 7th on the 2021 Inc. 5000

August 17, 2021 Published by

 

Inc. magazine today announced that Varo Bank, N.A. ranked No. 7 on its annual Inc. 5000 list, the most prestigious ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing private companies. This is Varo’s first appearance on the list after earning the fourth spot on the Inc. regional list in California earlier this year. The Inc. 5000 list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy’s most dynamic segment—its independent small businesses. Intuit, Zappos, Under Armour, Microsoft, Patagonia, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees on the Inc. 5000.

“Our vision at Varo is to create a more enlightened way to provide financial opportunity for everyone. We’ve been focusing on tools, products, and insights to help our customers become more financially resilient, regardless of their background or their current financial situation. As a digital bank, we can serve underserved communities, something the traditional banking system has struggled with”, said Colin Walsh, CEO and founder of Varo Bank. “Our mission of financial inclusion–to build a bank where every person is afforded access and equity within our financial system, regardless of their net worth – is guiding everything we do as our business continues to scale.”

Varo Bank solidified its leadership in the banking industry in 2020 by becoming the first and only consumer fintech to receive its own national bank charter. Since opening its doors in 2017, the company has opened over 4 million accounts and helps its customers save money by eliminating banking fees and by offering industry-leading financial products like Save Your Pay, Save Your Change, Varo Advance, and Varo Perks, the cashback rewards program.

Not only have the companies on the 2021 Inc. 5000 been very competitive within their markets, but this year’s list also proved especially resilient and flexible given 2020’s unprecedented challenges. Among the 5,000, the average median three-year growth rate soared to 543 percent, and median revenue reached $11.1 million. Together, those companies added more than 610,000 jobs over the past three years.

Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000. The top 500 companies are featured in the September issue of Inc., which will be available on newsstands on August 20.

“The 2021 Inc. 5000 list feels like one of the most important rosters of companies ever compiled,” says Scott Omelianuk, editor-in-chief of Inc. “Building one of the fastest-growing companies in America in any year is a remarkable achievement. Building one in the crisis we’ve lived through is just plain amazing. This kind of accomplishment comes with hard work, smart pivots, great leadership, and the help of a whole lot of people.”

vantagepoint-ai-named-a-top-workplace-in-the-us.-by-fortune-magazine

Vantagepoint AI Named a Top Workplace in the U.S. By Fortune® Magazine

August 16, 2021 Published by

 

Vantagepoint AI has been recognized again by Fortune® Magazine as a top Small Business. Out of 100 small businesses, Vantagepoint AI was ranked number eight in the entire U.S.

Vantagepoint AI was the first company in the world to empower independent traders to trade smarter and profit more using Artificial Intelligence on their home computers.  Company founder, Louis Mendelsohn, transformed the financial industry with the introduction of his theory of strategy backtesting, the introduction of his software, and his patented global Intermarket Analysis.  Today, Lane Mendelsohn leads the company and continues to create a workplace that is transforming lives both for his team and for VantagePoint traders.

“This award is especially meaningful to me,” says Lane Mendelsohn, “It is directly impacted by how our team feels about being part of our Vantagepoint family.  As the President of Vantagepoint, I am deeply aware of my responsibility to care for our team and our business.”

Vantagepoint AI offers its team full medical, dental, and vision coverage and maintains a workplace culture centered around its core values of teamwork, communication, purpose, innovation, respect, integrity, and passion to guide every decision and action at all levels of the company.  The company is also dedicated to giving back to the local community through regular corporate giving as well as team member donations to small, local (often overlooked) community charities.

The Vantagepoint AI team was surveyed and resoundingly endorsed the workplace culture the Mendelsohns have created. “I love that we are a leader in the United States of how to be a workplace that changes lives for my team, our community, and our traders!” declared Lane Mendelsohn, President of Vantagepoint AI.

See what makes Vantagepoint unique in the fintech sector and how predictive A.I. is leveling the trading field for independent traders at a live, interactive training.

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