​Financial health startup takes the top honor in the “Serving the Underserved” category

 Provenir, a global leader in data analytics software and risk decisioning, today congratulated its customer SeedFi  for winning the Tearsheet Challenger Awards 2021. Tearsheet's Challengers Awards are the financial industry's top awards program focused on digital banking.

SeedFi, along with its banking partner Cross River Bank, was selected as the winner in the “Serving the Underserved” category which recognizes and celebrates the companies and products that are enabling underserved consumers to build credit, save, and get immediate cash at responsible interest rates.

This is a critical juncture in the history of finance where the lives of more than 100 million people can improve faster than at any other time in history if they are given the tools needed to strengthen their financial position so they can overcome hardships. SeedFi was created to deliver these tools, helping consumers escape the endless cycles of debt, while securing a more promising financial future.

“According to a 2019 report by the Federal Reserve, 22% of American adults are either unbanked or underbanked, representing a challenge for those consumers to build credit,” said Kathy Stares, executive vice president, Americas, Provenir. “SeedFi is actively changing this dynamic through its innovative solutions that enable the underserved to borrow, save, and build credit. We congratulate SeedFi on the well-deserved honor of winning the prestigious Challenger Awards 2021.”

Provenir’s flagship product, Provenir Cloud Suite, is the industry’s first, true risk-decisioning ecosystem, powering SeedFi’s product offerings. The Provenir Cloud Suite provides a comprehensive real-time view of unified decisioning-performance, third-party and historical data, as well as automated analytics. Through one unified digital experience offering four cloud products — decisioning, data, insights and solutions —users can create the platform-as-a-service (PaaS) cloud solution that best fits their business needs.

Amsterdam fintech powerhouse Recharge.com has opened a new office in Lisbon to tap into the city's digital talent pool 

Recharge.com, the European leader in online consumer-branded payments, has announced a new Lisbon office focused on product development as it accelerates the expansion of its international operations.  

BlackLine joins Microsoft Business Application ISV Connect Program; Companies to collaborate on joint selling and solution integration to further help customers on their modern accounting journeys

 Building on its longstanding relationship delivering finance and accounting automation solutions to Microsoft Dynamics GP customers, BlackLine, Inc. (Nasdaq: BL) today announced it is expanding on the collaboration to bring enhanced automation and financial operations management to Microsoft Dynamics 365 customers.

“Through our collaboration with Microsoft, we seek to help finance and accounting teams at midsize companies, as well as large organizations, gain control over their financial close, intercompany accounting, accounts receivable and other key processes for the office of the Controller,” said Mel Zeledon, senior vice president of channels and alliances at BlackLine.  “Together we’re providing an end-to-end solution, delivering greater customer value through enhanced connectivity and integration.”

As part of the expansion, BlackLine has joined Microsoft’s Business Application ISV (independent software vendor) Connect Program allowing both enterprise and mid-market Dynamics 365 Finance customers to benefit from the power of BlackLine’s unified platform for finance controls and automation—and all from within a single user interface.  Under the terms of the extended agreement, BlackLine and Microsoft also have entered into a joint selling arrangement under which BlackLine will work collaboratively with Microsoft’s technical, training, support and go-to-market teams.

“Microsoft welcomes BlackLine into the Microsoft Business Applications ecosystem and will offer its platform for finance controls and automation to Microsoft Dynamics 365 customers and partners,” said Toby Bowers, general manager for business applications at Microsoft.  “With this Microsoft Dynamics 365 integration, BlackLine offers a unique, innovative solution to organizations around the world that focuses on finance and accounting.”

BlackLine is ERP-agnostic, optimized for today’s modern enterprise with direct integration to more than 30 different leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) and source systems.  BlackLine has an existing connector for Microsoft Dynamics GP and expects to deliver one for Microsoft Dynamics 365 in 2022. 

“We expect to gain market traction as customers move to the cloud and continue their finance transformation journeys and believe the partnership will accelerate customer adoption with the assurance of an integrated solution for financial controls and automation,” added Mr. Zeledon.

BlackLine is showcasing its market-leading financial close, accounts receivable and intercompany accounting automation solutions this week in front of more than 17,000 registrants at BlackLine’s annual user conference BeyondTheBlack™, with sessions designed to show how BlackLine complements specific ERP systems such as Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, SAP, Oracle NetSuite, Workday and more.  Join us to find out why Eventex recognized BeyondTheBlack 2020 as one of the most ‘innovative, creative and effective events in the world’.  To view the agenda or register free of charge, go here.

For more information on using BlackLine alongside Microsoft ERPs, go here.

Greg Hingston is appointed Global CEO, HSBC Life and Insurance Partnerships with  effect 1 January 2022. He succeeds Bryce Johns, who has decided to pursue an  opportunity outside of HSBC.  

Nuno Matos, Chief Executive, Wealth and Personal Banking (WPB), said: “We are  extremely pleased to have Greg lead our insurance business globally, a key growth  engine for WPB and a critical part of our strategy to become the leading wealth manager  in Asia. 

“Under Greg’s leadership of WPB in Asia, we have achieved record financial  performance in key areas, gained market share and most importantly, significantly  enhanced the range of wealth, international and digital services to benefit the full  spectrum of our customers in the region. This provides a solid foundation to continue to  transform and exponentially grow our insurance franchise as we aim to scale up our  wealth capabilities globally, particularly in the Greater Bay Area, mainland China,  ASEAN and India.” 

Greg Hingston said: “I am delighted to take on this new opportunity, to strengthen our  position as a leading global bancassurer that serves the full breadth of our client  relationships across the Group and continue to contribute towards becoming a leading  wealth manager globally, particularly in Asia, where we aim to build leading health and  wealth insurance platforms and propositions.” 

In his new role as Global CEO, HSBC Life and Insurance Partnerships, Greg will be  responsible for leading and growing HSBC’s insurance business, which globally,  contributed around a third of overall WPB profits and around 12% of Group profits in the  first half of 2021. 

In the last two years, the Group has accelerated investments in HSBC Life, marking a  number of milestones that will set up the business for future growth and expansion. In  Hong Kong, HSBC Life regained market leadership as a bancassurer and led product  and digital innovation with the launch of new digital health platforms, Olive1, Well+2 and  

Benefits+3. In mainland China, HSBC established Pinnacle, a new digitally-enabled  mobile financial planning business that leverages the Group’s manufacturing capabilities  in HSBC Life China. In the UK, HSBC Life is Top 3 in onshore bonds and Top 10 in  external protection and critical illness. Recent investments in product platforms and  systems in Mexico will help capture increased demand for protection, savings and  retirement needs. In August 2021, HSBC Life announced the acquisition of AXA  Singapore, the first acquisition for the Group in 10 years. 

Greg has been with the HSBC Group for 15 years where he was previously Head of  WPB Hong Kong, Regional Head of Retail Banking, EMEA, Head of Customer Value  Management & Head of International for Retail Banking and Wealth Management in  

Europe, and Global Head of Strategy for RBWM. Earlier in his career, he spent five  years at Prudential Corporation Asia Ltd where he led Business Development, Strategic  Planning and M&A.

New investments will help consolidate Upgrade Card as fastest growing credit card in America

Rapidly-growing fintech company’s award-winning end-to-end investment platform empowers real estate entrepreneurs to create wealth and value in their communities

Fund That Flip, the New York City- and Cleveland, OH-based real estate-focused fintech platform, today announced the first close of its $20 million Series B funding round. The financing was led by GPO Fund of New York, with participation from MassMutual Ventures and Tribeca Early Stage Partners. More than 50 Fund That Flip clients also participated in the capital raise via an AngelList syndicate led by proptech investor, Jonathan Wasserstrum. Earlier investors included Edison Partners and SoundBoard Venture Fund. The investment will help further the expansion of the firm’s proprietary technology platform that provides investors access to scalable capital and passive investment opportunities. The raise will also accelerate the company’s national expansion, development of technological innovations for an underserved industry, and exploration of global opportunities.

“Real estate investors play an integral part of the economy in building homes, creating jobs, and growing businesses and communities,” said Matt Rodak, founder and CEO of Fund That Flip. “Since our inception, we have been dedicated to solving the problem so many entrepreneurs face: access to capital and technology to grow their businesses. This round of funding accelerates our mission to deliver technology-first solutions that create even more value for the local entrepreneurs who are themselves creating value in their own communities.”

With an aging housing stock and 72 million millennials seeking to transition from apartment living to single-family homes, Fund That Flip is uniquely positioned to expand its technology and track record of enabling local real estate entrepreneurs to scale their businesses with reliable access to financial services and technology. The company plans to continue to broaden its platform into an end-to-end real estate investment operating system designed to support the information and capital needs of the local real estate entrepreneur.

“With this raise, we plan to create even more innovative solutions for real estate entrepreneurs, bring them additional value through optimizing the real estate investing ecosystem with data and technology, and continue to provide unparalleled customer service to help real estate professionals drive their businesses forward. We’re thrilled to partner with GPO Fund because they have a proven model of helping companies disrupt analog markets through the creation of data-driven solutions and platforms,” Rodak said.

As part of the round, Jeff Stewart, partner and managing director at GPO Fund, will join the Fund That Flip board of directors. “I’m really excited by the way Fund That Flip is leveraging data and technology to empower a huge and underserved market. While they have grown tremendously fast over the past twelve months, we believe the opportunity in front of them is enormous,” said Stewart. “Fintech companies are transforming entire industries through vertically integrated technology solutions, and the team at Fund That Flip has an impressive track record of leading that innovation within the real estate space.”

Fund That Flip is one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., on pace to grow its revenue by 300% year-over-year and doubling its customer base since 2020. Their technology platform has facilitated over $1 billion in real estate investments, with 99.1% return of principal, and has achieved profitability since the close of their Series A in August 2019. Shulman Rogers Gandal Pordy & Ecker, P.A., acted as legal counsel for Fund That Flip.

European open banking leader Aiia enters collaboration with one of the most successful software technology companies in the Nordics, Netcompany. Netcompany is launching ‘mit.dk’, a new platform to streamline digital communication between the Danish people and public and private sector companies. The platform is set to bring open banking powered payments to the masses by enabling Danish citizens to pay bills and invoices securely and safely in one place.

With an ambition of making it as easy and straightforward to act on and manage digital mail from companies, authorities, organisations and healthcare. The new digital post solution will also make it possible for more than five million Danish citizens to pay bills and invoices directly through the platform powered by Aiia’s quality-driven open banking infrastructure. 

Not only will the Danish citizens be able to have one place to find bills, doctors appointments or communication from authorities, but the platform will enable citizens to take action immediately in one place. Such as booking a doctor's appointment, communicating directly with the insurance company or paying bills of any kind with a swipe.

By integrating Aiia’s payment initiation services, Netcompany will enable Danish citizens with a hassle-free and simple method for taking action on their digital post, and will amongst other things allow for the option to pay all bills and invoices directly where the citizens receive the messages.

By adding Aiia’s payment initiation services to the platform, mit.dk will make up for countless switching between online banking and payment cards or paper based invoices, a process most people can recognize from current digital mail solutions. Moving away from existing paper based invoices is expected to initiate higher conversion and more bills paid on time for companies using the new platform to let citizens pay their bills directly through their digital post solution. 

With a potential reach of more than five million Danish citizens this collaboration is set to become a massive game-changer for open banking payments. The partnership is the first of its kind and is fully set to bring open banking powered payments to the masses with an estimated three-figure million amount of open banking payments yearly.

The further development of the partnership is to allow all Danish citizens to make different types beyond bill and invoice payments, adding options for splitting up payments and initiating subscription payments.
 
The partnership is the first of its kind and is fully set to bring open banking powered payments to the masses. The further development of the partnership is to allow all Danish citizens to make different types beyond bill and invoice payments, adding options for splitting up payments and initiating subscription payments.

Commenting on the collaboration of utilizing open banking payments, André Rogaczewski, CEO of Netcompany, said:  

“We are proud to bring an innovative payment solution to millions of citizens and businesses. We unite and innovate digital post and modern payment options on the mit.dk platform. When you receive a message on mit.dk, you must be able to respond to it immediately - even when a bill has to be paid. The platform will be at the forefront with a seamless payment experience for both sender and recipient. With Aiia as payment provider, we ensure a strong, stable and future-proof solution with the user experience in focus. We hereby make it easy, safe and straightforward to pay all types of bills from a single overview in one place.”  

Rune Mai, CEO & Founder of Aiia, also commented on the collaboration saying:

“We’re honoured to power a nationwide platform with our thriving payments platform and show that open banking powered payments is maturing to move into the masses. Together with Netcompany we’re creating an entirely new foundation for payments between Danish citizens and companies making it smooth, straightforward and intuitive to pay bills and invoices where it is received with their bank account. This will enable a high-converting payment flow and be increasing convenience massively for the end-users of mit.dk”

Financial Data and Technology Association (FDATA), a leading fintech industry lobbying organisation, has partnered with Open Banking Expo, the largest global community of Open Banking and Open Finance executives driving one of the biggest digital transformations across the financial services sector.

The two global organisations have joined forces to help support, promote and foster a global Open Banking and Open Finance community.

FDATA works closely with government, regulatory authorities, policymakers and industry to unleash the benefits of Open Banking and Open Finance to the benefit of customers across the world. In addition to holding seats on policy working groups, expert advisory groups and task forces related to Open Banking, FDATA provides a collective voice for a broad array of fintech companies, whose innovative financial applications and services empower customers to take better control of their financial lives. 

Richard Prior, CEO of FDATA, said: “We are delighted to formalise our relationship with Open Banking Expo. FDATA is a global members organisation at the forefront of the campaign for Open Finance in multiple jurisdictions. Open Banking Expo’s market reach and deep quality of content offers an ideal opportunity, via this strategic partnership, to amplify and enhance FDATA’s engagement in shaping mission-critical policy initiatives in the delivery of Open Banking and Open Finance.”

Adam Cox, co-founder of Open Banking Expo, said: “We are thrilled to join forces with FDATA to put more weight behind building and supporting the fast-growing Open Banking and Open Finance movement across the globe. This partnership will provide a perfect platform to exchange global expertise at a more meaningful level and build relations with decision and policymakers across the globe.”

FDATA is the UK fintech industry’s most influential association shaping the future of the financial sector by opening it up to the benefits of the intersection between financial data and technology.

The latest announcement follows Open Banking Expo’s recent partnership with Open Vector designed to launch community meet-ups to bring together financial institutions, regulators and industry leaders to accelerate the proliferation of open banking in Latin America.