nCino Drives Digital Banking in Sweden; Access Softek Unveils Roboadvisory Tool

nCino Drives Digital Banking in Sweden; Access Softek Unveils Roboadvisory Tool

Cloud banking innovator nCino has picked up another partner. The Wilmington, North Carolina company – which made its Finovate debut at FinovateEurope in 2017 – has teamed up with Swedish SME lender Yourban. The firm will deploy the nCino Bank Operating System to power its SME lending operations.

“Our vision for Yourban was to create an institution that could be in place for the long-term,” Yourban CEO and founder Marthin Larsson explained. “With this in mind, we wanted to partner with a technology provider that could adapt and scale our operations as we expand firstly across Sweden and then Europe.”

nCino’s Banking Operating System leverages the Salesforce platform to deliver an end-to-end banking solution that enables banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions to grow market share, meet compliance obligations and boost profitability. The cloud-based platform combines CRM, ECM, loan origination, workflow, business intelligence and reporting in a single, digitally-optimized experience, providing greater security, efficiency, as well as time- and cost-savings.

“In a competitive SME lending market, Yourban understands the need to provide customers with an unparalleled digital experience,” nCino VP of Sales, EMEA Edward Lane said. “We’re excited to be helping Yourban achieve its goals at such a critical time in its lifecycle.”

With the company’s SME loan business as a starting point, the partnership between nCino and Yourban is designed to expand to include additional product offerings as the lender’s business grows.


Two years ago, Access Softek demonstrated its white label roboadvisory technology at FinovateFall in New York. Last week, the company announced the launch of its latest roboadvisory solution, EasyVest. The new offering provides investors with an automated personal investment advisor that seamlessly connects with bank, credit union, and mobile banking platforms.

“Over the next decade, America will experience the largest generational transfer of wealth we’ve ever seen as Baby Boomers pass along their assets to their children and grandchildren,” Access Softek founder and CEO Chris Doner said. “Robo-advisors especially appeal to the generations receiving the wealth transfer. Financial institutions that provide the technology recipients want will benefit from the transfer.”

Investors can use EasyVest to build wealth via a variety of low-cast exchange-traded fund portfolios. The technology supports individual and retirement accounts, conducts automatic portfolio rebalancing, and supports fractional share purchases. Investors can open an account with as little as $200.


Finovate Podcast Interviews Jim Bruene

In the latest episode of the Finovate podcast, host Greg Palmer talks with Jim Bruene, founder of the Online Banking Report – the first and longest lasting specialty information publication for the digital banking industry. Bruene is currently a Principal at Fintech Labs UX, a firm that collaborates with banks, credit unions, and fintechs to improve ROI.

Bruene is also the “Father of Finovate,” having founded the fintech conference series in 1994. In this podcast conversation, he talks about the third recession of the fintech era, how to apply lessons learned from the dot.com crash, the Great Recession, and the COVID-19 crisis.


Here is the latest news from our Finovate alums.

  • Overbond introduces live ETF NAV pricing.
  • Jack Henry to automate lending for Kentucky’s Commonwealth Credit Union.
  • Nordea goes live with new account aggregation and #PFM management tools from Tink.
  • NICE Actimize extends its strategic collaboration with Infosys to provide end-to-end financial crime management.
  • Hive selects ID R&D for passive facial liveness.
  • FalconPro Technology selects Redrock Biometrics to co-develop a palm-based biometric identification solution for mass transportation.
  • Trulioo adds new features to its EmbedID developer tool.
  • Daon extends partnership with ForgeRock to bring multi-factor authentication and digital onboarding to ForgeRock authentication trees.
  • Featurespace to grow behavioral analytics with fresh $37.4 million round.
  • nanopay to power self-service international payments for Brazil-based Treviso.
  • Envestnet provides new integrated unified managed account (UMA) platform to Canaccord Genuity Group.
  • Washington Trust Bank deploys digital account opening technology from Terafina.
  • Prolific London interviews Datasine CEO Igor Volzhanin.
  • Eigen Technologies announces new Chief Customer Officer David Brooks.
  • Infosys Finacle inks joint partnership agreement with Traydstream to drive automation in trade finance.
  • Thomson Reuters partners with Path Solutions to add automation and greater efficiency to tax workflows and core banking processes.
  • Fiserv launches new feature of its Clover POS platform, Clover Online Ordering, to help restaurants more easily serve take-out customers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Jumio brings its online identity verification technology to Mobiquity’s digital onboarding service.
  • Salt Edge introduces new feature for third party providers that streamlines PSD2 onboarding with banks.
  • Tradeshift partners with Denmark’s ECA Eksport Kredit Fonden on supply chain finance program for businesses.
  • Caixabank introduces new mentoring program for female entrepreneurs and SME founders.
  • TransUnion announces partnership with Horizon Media to support digital identity initiative.
  • Payoneer partners with banking app ANNA to help SMEs and freelancers receive international payments in U.S. dollars or Euros.
  • Blytzpay forges strategic partnership with AFS Dealers.
  • Yukka Lab earns spot in the F10 Scaleup Program.
  • Avaloq extends contract with First Abu Dhabi Bank Switzerland.
  • ClickSWITCH and Deluxe partner to offer a digital deposit solution for FIs.
  • Tavant launches new machine learning-based conditioning management and decisioning solution for Ellie Mae’s digital lending platform, Encompass.

Finovate Alumni Features and Profiles

Big Bank Meets Big Bitcoin: JPMorgan Partners with Gemini and Coinbase – This week the Wall Street Journal reported that JPMorgan had established an official banking relationship with two cryptocurrency exchanges: Gemini and long-time Finovate alum Coinbase

eToro Reaches 13 Million Users, Spurred by COVID-19 – The U.K.-based company recently announced it has now reached 13 million active users.

Featurespace to Grow Behavioral Analytics with Fresh $37.4 Million Round – Behavioral analytics technology provider Featurespace announced today that it closed a $37.4 million (£30 million) round of funding.

FIS Unveils Portal to Help SMEs Access PPP Loan Forgiveness – This portal, available to FIs and merchants participating in the SBA’s PPP, automates and streamlines the process of applying for loan forgiveness under the provisions of the new program.

Ephesoft Brings Power of Context to Accounts Payable with Semantik Invoice – The new data acquisition solution from Ephesoft will bring 97% accuracy and 30% cost-savings to companies looking for ways to enhance their accounts payable processes.

Eltropy and Prisma Campaigns Help Credit Unions Better Engage Members – Text messaging platform Eltropy and omnichannel marketing innovator Prisma Campaigns have teamed up to help credit unions communicate more effectively with their customers.

Intuit’s $7 Billion Bid for Credit Karma; FinovateEurope Salutes its Best of Show

Intuit’s $7 Billion Bid for Credit Karma; FinovateEurope Salutes its Best of Show
Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom from Pexels

How’s $7 billion for good karma? One of Finovate’s earliest alums Credit Karma is reportedly the target of what would be Intuit’s biggest acquisition to date. According to The Wall Street Journal, the cash and stock deal could be announced as early as Monday.

Credit Karma will continue to function as an independent company with founder and CEO Kenneth Lin at the helm. The acquisition gives Intuit, maker of online tax filing service TurboTax, another contact point with the online personal finance world. Credit Karma provides its members with access to their credit scores and borrowing histories, helps them monitor their accounts for security breaches and, perhaps most relevantly, has offered a free online tax preparation service since 2017.

If the deal holds up, Intuit will be paying a significant premium for Credit Karma. The personal financial wellness company was last valued at $4 billion, based on a 2018 private market transaction.


With another Finovate conference in the books, our Finovate Best of Show ranks has a new set of members. Congratulations to Dorsum, Glia, Horizn, iProov, Sonect, and W.UP for taking home top honors earlier this month at FinovateEurope!

The victory may have been especially sweet for Sonect, whose Best of Show award-winning demo was also the company’s Finovate debut. The Switzerland-based start-up offers what it calls “the world’s first social cash network” that enables consumers to access cash without having to visit a bank branch or ATM. Sonect offers merchants the ability to grow their business via increased traffic and gives financial institutions a way to extend their ATM networks without the cost of additional hardware.

The Best of Show win was also a first for Horizn. The company, which made its Finovate debut three years ago at FinovateEurope, offers a platform that helps employees and customers maximize the opportunities of digitized financial services. Horizn uses simulator microlearning, as well as gamification and advanced analytics, to promote digital adoption across channels.

And last but not least, a special tip of the hat to Dorsum, Glia, iProov, and W.UP, all of whom won Best of Show honors at FinovateEurope for a second year in a row.


Here’s a round up of recent news from our Finovate alumni.

  • Larky enters reseller agreement with Access Softek.
  • Bison Bank in Lisbon, Portugal selects PSD2-ready software from ndigit.
  • Techround interviews Tradeshift co-founder Mikkel Hippe Brun.
  • Bremer Bank leverages Backbase’s digital-first banking platform to fuel digital transformation.
  • Paysend’s multi-currency global account launches in Europe.
  • Kinetica launches Kinetica Cloud.
  • Futurex taps ISARA to bring quantum-safe cryptography and crypto-agility into its Key Management Enterprise Server (KMES) Series 3.
  • With new FCA license, Meniga seeks to expand product offering.
  • StrategyCorps and Digital Onboarding partner to help banks grow checking account relationships.
  • Baker Hill renews partnership with Washington Trust Bank to streamline loan origination and portfolio risk management.
  • Aire launches Credit Insight Suite to improve access to credit.
  • Coinbase becomes Visa principal to offer more feature for Coinbase Card customers.
  • InComm partners with Eezi to launch Poundland’s gift card program.
  • Enveil secures $10 million in Series A funding for secure data collaboration.
  • Trulioo adds image capture SDK to Trulioo GlobalGateway.
  • Amaiz taps ValidSoft for voice authentication.
  • OurCrowd expands focus on growing early stage tech companies.

Finovate Alum Features and Profiles

eToro’s Evolution – Social trading and investment platform eToro has never been one to stand still for very long. The company’s development cycle is fast enough to make even the most sprightly fintech jealous.

Lending Club Snaps Up Radius Bank for $185 Million – When Lending Club was founded in 2007, the startup aimed to serve as a place to help borrowers avoid dealing with banks. In a somewhat ironic move today, that same startup is becoming a bank itself.

Breach Clarity’s New Offering Provides Consumers Personalized Protection – Fraud detection and prevention company Breach Clarity announced this week it has developed a new platform to help financial service providers offer personalized protection for their customers.

New SumUp Card Empowers SMEs as Business Payment Makers and Takers – The company that has helped bring fintech innovation to e-commerce with its mobile point-of-sale (mPOS), card reading solutions now offers merchants a card of their own.

Finovate Alumni News

Around the web

  • Cinchy earns finalist spot in 2019 Global Venture Challenge sponsored by Connecticut Innovations. See them demo their technology at FinovateFall 2019 this week!
  • Digital marketing firm DeepTarget and Access Softek extend partnership.
  • Warsaw, Poland’s The First News profiles Neontri (formerly Braintri).
  • ClickSWITCH appoints Eric Edwards as new Chief Revenue Officer.
  • BusinessCloud features Exate Technology and Wealthify in its look at 10 U.K. Female-Led Fintech Firms to Watch.

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

  • Finablr Takes Majority Stake in Digital Gifting Innovator Swych.
  • Simple Appoints Former Amazon Exec as CEO.

Around the web

  • Analyst Ian McKenna highlights six Finovate alums – Access Softek, Bucket Technologies, Systelos, BlueRush, Tinkoff, and Golden – in his roundup of “fintech innovators making waves.”
  • Marketing Technology Insights interviews CallVU CEO Ori Faran.
  • Hydrogen, iProov, Ocrolus, and James Finance are among 20 startups competing for top honors at the India FinTech Awards 2018.
  • The Constant Investor’s Crypto Watch interviews Identitii CEO Nick Armstrong on the role of blockchain technology in fighting cybercrime.
  • Tinkoff Mobile extends service to seven additional areas of Russia including Smolensk and the Republic of Mordovia.
  • Kofax pays $400 million in cash to buy Nuance’s imaging division.
  • Walmart’s in-store Direct2Cash service gives PayActiv users instant cash access to earned wages.
  • Kony enhances Kony AppPlatform to support progressive web apps.
  • CEO Review magazine features AdviceRobo CEO Diederick Van Thiel.
  • BehavioSec launches new features for version 5 of its behavioral biometrics 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.