Beyond Human: AI's Impact on Insurance Underwriting

The insurance industry is undergoing a seismic shift. No longer confined to actuarial tables and manual processes, it's embracing a future driven by data and artificial intelligence. Your next underwriting colleague might be an AI agent, capable of outperforming human counterparts in speed, accuracy, and efficiency.

AI Agents: The New Underwriting Powerhouse

AI agents are transforming the underwriting process in several key areas:

• Enhanced Risk Assessment: Leveraging advanced algorithms, AI agents can analyze vast datasets, including historical claims data, weather patterns, and emerging risks, to provide more accurate risk assessments. This empowers insurers to price policies precisely and competitively.
• Fraud Detection: AI's ability to identify patterns and anomalies in claims data makes it a formidable tool in combating insurance fraud. By detecting suspicious activities early on, insurers can protect their bottom line and maintain customer trust.
• Streamlined Operations: Routine tasks like data entry, policy generation, and document verification can be efficiently handled by AI agents, freeing up underwriters to focus on complex cases and strategic initiatives.
• Personalized Customer Experience: AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can provide instant responses to customer inquiries, improving satisfaction and loyalty.
• Product Innovation: By analyzing customer data and market trends, AI can help develop innovative insurance products tailored to specific customer segments.

The Future of Underwriting: Humans and AI Collaboration

While AI brings immense potential, human expertise remains indispensable. The future of underwriting lies in a collaborative model where humans and AI complement each other's strengths. Underwriters will leverage AI insights to make informed decisions, build strong customer relationships, and drive business growth.

Challenges for Insurance Leaders

Embracing AI in underwriting comes with its own set of challenges:

• Data Quality: Ensuring the accuracy and completeness of data is crucial for AI models to deliver reliable results.
• Model Explainability: Understanding how AI arrives at its conclusions is essential for building trust and complying with regulations.
• Talent Acquisition and Development: Building a workforce with the skills to effectively collaborate with AI requires investment in training and development.
• Ethical Considerations: Implementing AI in a way that is fair, unbiased, and transparent is paramount to maintaining trust with customers and regulators.
• Cybersecurity: Protecting sensitive customer data from cyber threats is a top priority in an AI-driven environment.

By addressing these challenges and embracing AI, insurance leaders can position their organizations for long-term success. The future of underwriting is bright, and those who harness the power of AI will be at the forefront of industry innovation.

Are you ready to transform your underwriting operations with AI? [Include a call-to-action, such as inviting readers to attend a webinar or download a whitepaper on AI in underwriting]

Curve will deploy the investment to expand internationally, including to the US, and to deepen its European reach. Curve will also use the fresh funding to drive ongoing product innovation, notably of Curve Credit in early 2021. The fundraise will allow Curve to execute an ambitious strategy to become the leading  financial superapp, bringing all your finances into one place.

The funding round was led by IDC Ventures, Fuel Venture Capital and Vulcan Capital (the investment arm of the estate of Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen), with participation from OneMain Financial (NYSE: OMF), the US personal finance company, and Novum Capital. IDC Ventures has funded some of the world’s brightest tech scale-ups from across the globe, such as Tradeshift, RecargaPay, Boatsetter and CookUnity. Counting IDC Ventures, Curve also attracted many of its investors for a second time.

The fundraise brings the total investment in Curve to almost $175M and makes the business one of only a select group of European fintechs to have raised sizable funds in a climate of widespread economic disruption, driven by Covid-19 restrictions.

Shachar Bialick, Founder and CEO of Curve, said: “We are ecstatic that our investors share Curve’s vision to empower as many people as possible to take control of their money and move banking to the cloud. This fundraise stands out as an endorsement of Curve’s unique product strategy, the excitement surrounding the debut of Curve Credit, and the upcoming launch of Curve in the US.  I want to thank our partners and shareholders, and the entire team at Curve for their tireless work to thrive throughout 2020.”

Bobby Aitkenhead, Managing Partner of IDC Ventures, said: “Curve’s pioneering approach to finance is more necessary than ever as we accelerate globally to a digital-first world. We are proud to support Curve as they bring their much-needed seamless banking experience to the United States in 2021. Ever since we first invested in Curve in 2019, Shachar Bialick and his team have inspired us with their energy and vision of an all-in-one banking platform. IDC Ventures looks forward to scaling this journey to greater heights in 2021, reaching more people, with more products in more regions.”

Jeff Ransdell, Founding Partner, Managing Director, Fuel Venture Capital, said: “Curve allows customers to stay with their preferred banks while taking advantage of the latest financial technologies, connecting institutions with innovation and building a true ecosystem play. Their collaborative model has been immensely successful in Europe and we are confident that it will prove equally so in the US, where physical cards are still dominant.”

Rick Roberts, from Vulcan Capital, said: “Curve’s model is redefining the future of banking by bringing diverse financial products and solutions together into one digital wallet, for the benefit of banks and customers alike. Their friction-free offering is coming at the ideal time for American consumers, who are looking for safer payment options and greater financial control in the wake of the pandemic.  We are excited to be part of the next phase in Curve’s ambitious journey.”

Curve’s Series C fundraise comes at the end of an impressive 2020 performance, in which Curve reached 2m customers, launched a range of new products and partnerships, and hired a world-class team.

In the last 12 months: Curve extended its offering to include tech titans Apple Pay, Samsung Pay and Google Pay for its customers in its 31 European markets.

• In December: Curve announced it was joining forces with Plaid to bring open banking to the UK, allowing users to connect and see their bank accounts in one place.
• Curve introduced its novel Anti-Embarrassment Mode, a feature ensuring that customers never experience a decline.
• In October: Curve announced the establishment of a subsidiary in Vilnius, Lithuania, and secured an EMI Licence to enable it to serve its European customers following Brexit on 31st December 2020.
• In August: Curve launched an innovative partnership with Samsung and brought the Samsung Pay Card to the market, helping Samsung customers connect their bank cards into Samsung Pay.
• In July: Scott Weller joined as CFO from PayPal. Scott built and led PayPal’s pricing strategy in its Europe, Middle East and Africa markets.
• In June: Curve successfully brought issuance in-house, and migrated to a new acquirer, Checkout.com, in the space of 59.5 hours.
• In April: Curve expanded its ‘Go Back in Time’ feature from 14 to 90 days, to give customers greater flexibility to manage their finances in the face of Covid.

Curve also expanded its proposition to include Loyalty Cards, taking another step towards making your wallet obsolete.

In February: Curve opened its first US office, in Brooklyn, New York, as a base for its Stateside operations. Curve’s US expansion is led by VP, head of North America, Amanda Orson, previously managing partner of media group W2PY and an adviser to Gauss Ventures.

About Curve

Curve is an over-the-top banking platform, which allows customers to consolidate multiple cards into one smart card and an even smarter app. The unique Curve card allows customers to supercharge their legacy banks to the 21st century without leaving their bank. Curve is live in 31 markets across the UK and European Economic Area (EEA).

Curve offers a host of benefits to its customers, who get instant notifications and categorisation across their spend; the capacity to earn instant 1% cashback at the likes of Amazon, Uber, Netflix and Tesco; the ability to fit their cards into Google Pay, Apple Pay and Samsung Pay, even if their banks don’t support this, and the patented Time Travel enables customers to swap spend to a different card in the app for up to 90 days after the purchase was made.

Curve supports Mastercard® and Visa networks. The Curve Card and e-money, related to cards issued in the UK, is issued by Curve OS Limited, authorised in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority to issue electronic money (firm reference number 900926). The Curve Card and e-money, related to cards issued in the EEA, is issued by Curve Europe UAB, authorised in Lithuania by the Bank of Lithuania (electronic money institution license No. 73 issued on 22 of October, 2020).

For more information go to www.curve.com, like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter @imaginecurve and Instagram @imaginecurve.

Today, Walmart announced the creation of a new fintech startup in a bid to better leverage its millions of customers. Walmart created the fintech startup to win more of their spending. The new company is a strategic partnership with leading fintech investment firm Ribbit Capital. The venture will bring together Walmart’s retail knowledge and scale with Ribbit’s fintech expertise to deliver tech-driven financial experiences tailored to Walmart’s customers and associates.

“For years, millions of customers have put their trust in Walmart to not only save them money when they shop with us but help them manage their financial needs. And they’ve made it clear they want more from us in the financial services arena,” said John Furner, President and CEO, Walmart US. “We’re thrilled to work with Ribbit Capital in a new venture to help us deliver innovative and needed options to our customers and associates – with speed and at scale.”

The company will be majority-owned by Walmart. Its board will include John Furner, President and CEO, Walmart US; Brett Biggs, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, Walmart; and Meyer Malka, Managing Partner of Ribbit Capital. The company plans to add independent industry experts to the board and to build a management team of experienced fintech leaders. It anticipates that growth may come through partnerships and acquisitions with leading fintech companies.

Ribbit Capital is a global investment firm with a mission to change the world of finance. Founded in 2012, Ribbit's mandate is to invest in the best entrepreneurs and businesses disrupting financial services. Its current portfolio includes no-fee mobile investment platform Robinhood; consumer technology platform Credit Karma; and Affirm, which provides innovative payment options for customers.

“Walmart has a relationship with millions of customers and associates built on trust, security and integrity,” said Meyer Malka, Managing Partner, Ribbit Capital. “When we combine our deep knowledge of technology-driven financial businesses and our ability to move with speed with Walmart’s mission and reach, we can create and deliver financial offerings that are second to none.”

Walmart will continue to serve customers through its existing financial services and partnerships with a number of third parties, including Walmart Credit Card, Walmart Money Card, check cashing, money transfers, installment financing and more.

About Walmart

Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT) helps people around the world save money and live better - anytime and anywhere - in retail stores, online, and through their mobile devices. Each week, over 265 million customers and members visit approximately 11,400 stores under 55 banners in 26 countries and eCommerce websites. With fiscal year 2020 revenue of $524 billion, Walmart employs over 2.2 million associates worldwide.

With this new round of financing, Mambu will continue to accelerate its rapid growth and deepen its footprint in the more than 50 countries in which it already operates and focus on markets like Brazil, Japan, and the United States. This announcement follows another year of approximately 100% YoY growth for Mambu in a banking software market which Gartner currently values at over $100 billion and is forecasting to grow at double-digits. FT Partners was the exclusive financial advisor on this transaction.

Mambu’s SaaS banking platform sets it apart from traditional core banking players as it drastically accelerates and simplifies the way financial products are built and serviced by any financial institution. Mambu’s platform is used by traditional banks, fintech startups, financial institutions, nonprofits and other businesses to power their financial products and services. Counting the likes of ABN AMRO, N26, OakNorth, Orange and Santander among its customer base, Mambu is powering both the building of new fintechs as well as the migration of existing financial institutions onto a tech stack fit for the fintech era. Mambu is continuing to expand both the breadth and depth of its platform and is planning to double the team to over 1000 Mambuvians by 2022.

Eugene Danilkis, founder and CEO of Mambu said: “When Mambu launched in 2011, we knew the future of banking would have to be built on agile and flexible technology. Nearly a decade later, this is more true now than ever, particularly given developments over the past year. As an increasing number of challenger and established banks sign on to prepare themselves to thrive in the fintech era, we have, and will continue to provide them with a world-class platform on which to build modern, agile customer-centric businesses.

“This latest funding round allows us to accelerate our mission to make banking better for a billion people around the world and address one of the largest, most complex global market opportunities that’s still in the infancy of cloud,” he said.

TCV General Partner, John Doran who joins the Mambu board, said: “Mambu was one of the first companies to leverage the opportunity to move banking software into the cloud. The team has built a highly composable, truly cloud-native product in a multi-billion dollar, rapidly-growing market traditionally dominated by large, slow-moving on-prem vendors. We have been following Mambu’s progress for many years and are truly delighted to be able to partner with Eugene and the entire Mambu team on their journey to expand their offerings to customers worldwide.”

About Mambu

​Mambu is the SaaS banking platform that is changing financial services. This rapidly growing company​ ​was launched in 2011​ and is enabling customers to build modern banking ​and lending​ offerings​ fast, securely and simply​. Through its composable banking approach, the platform gives customers the ability to design and service nearly any financial product while rapidly integrating to the best-of-service ecosystem of complementary solutions around the world. Mambu has a global network​ of nearly 500 employees​ supports ​160 customers in over 50 countries. ​It counts N26, OakNorth, ABN AMRO and Santander amongst its extensive list of customers.​ For more information, please visit our website or connect with us on Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and​ ​Facebook.

About TCV

Founded in 1995, TCV provides capital to growth-stage private and public companies in the technology industry. Since its inception, TCV has invested over $14 billion in leading technology companies, including more than $2.5 billion in fintech, and has helped guide CEOs through more than 125 IPOs and strategic acquisitions.

TCV’s investments include Airbnb, AxiomSL, Dollar Shave Club, ExactTarget, Expedia, Facebook, LinkedIn, Netflix, Nubank, Payoneer, Splunk, Spotify, WorldRemit, and Zillow. In Europe, TCV has invested over $2 billion in companies including Believe Digital, Brillen.de, Perfecto, FlixMobility, Klarna, Mollie, OneTrust, RELEX Solutions, Revolut, RMS, Sportradar, Spryker, The Pracuj Group, and WorldRemit. TCV is headquartered in Menlo Park, California, with offices in New York and London. For more information about TCV, including a complete list of TCV investments, visit https://www.tcv.com/

hanks to advances in mobile technology, the fintech industry has exploded in the last couple of decades. As the tech savvy millennial generation aged, banking and financial options evolved, too, and once rare perks like mobile banking became standard.

But banks aren't the only financial institutions that have made tech-driven changes. Entire markets — from digital loans and mobile stock services to e-commerce payment platforms and digital currency exchanges — are rooted in digital financial access.

TOP FINTECH COMPANIES

To learn more about what the current space looks like, check out these fintech companies and startups to keep an eye on.

CHIME
Industry: Banking
Location: San Francisco, California
What it does: Chime is a pioneering mobile bank that offers no-fee and automatic savings accounts as well as early payday via direct deposit. With over one million opened accounts, Chime is reportedly one of the fastest growing banks in the United States.

VARO MONEY
Industry: Banking
Location: San Francisco
What it does: Varo Money is a digital consumer bank using its digital app and other fintech tools to help users get a more complete look into their finances. The digital-first company offers both checking and savings accounts, which can be accessed through their fully transparent app. The app gives users insights into spending habits and even allows for instant money transfers. There isn’t a minimum balance required to receive a Varo debit card, and there are zero fees for overdrafts, foreign transactions or transfers.

BLEND
Industry: Consumer Lending
Location: San Francisco
What it does: Blend’s digital lending platform simplifies the loan process and gives consumers a more transparent look into their finances. The platform combines low-touch pre-approval processes with quick data verification tools to create a software that automates and expedites the lending process for everything from mortgages to car loans. Blend provides major financial institutions, like Wells Fargo, US Bank, and BMO Harris, with the tools they need to process billions of dollars of loans each day.

BREX
Industry: Credit Cards
Location: San Francisco
What it does: Brex designed corporate credit cards specifically for tech, e-commerce and life sciences companies. The cards feature 30-day payment cycles, 10-20x higher credit limits and increased rewards points on pertinent business purchases. With Brex, tech companies can earn 7x points on collaboration tool purchases (like Slack or Zoom), 3x on food delivery and 2x on software purchases.

TRUEACCORD
Industry: Debt Collections, Machine Learning
Location: San Francisco
What it does: TrueAccord uses machine learning to help thousands of companies collect debts in a way that suits both companies and customers. Instead of cold calling or sending debt collectors, TrueAccord uses modern forms of communication (like texts and push notifications) to boost customer engagement and payback rates. TrueAccord provides customers with outstanding debts with a platform that allows them to personalize the time, channel and payment arrangements that are comfortable for them.

TALA
Industry: Credit, Data, Software
Location: Santa Monica, California
What it does: Tala provides credit access to people in underserved parts of the world like Kenya, the Philippines, Tanzania and Mexico. Through its app, the company employs alternative data to underwrite potential users that have no traditional credit history.

PITCHBOOK
Industry: Venture Capitalism, Investments, Software
Location: Seattle, Washington
What it does: PitchBook is a financial software and data company that provides information about public and private equity markets. The platform enables companies, investors, advisors and professionals to capitalize on new business opportunities via due diligence research on private market intel, fundraising information and source investments.

AVANT
Industry: Lending
Location: Chicago, llinois
What it does: Avant is a loan service for middle-income consumers that offers loans ranging from $2,000-$35,000. The service operates largely as a resource for customers to access funds for things like consolidating debt or paying unexpected bills. Avant requires only a simple application and approves loans in as little as one day.

BRAINTREE
Industry: Payments
Location: Chicago, Illinois
What it does: Braintree, a division of PayPal, provides payment services to businesses of all sizes. Accepting payment types ranging from credit cards to Venmo, its products help companies that operate online and as marketplaces to bolster security, prevent fraud and safeguard user information.

ONDECK
Industry: Lending
Location: New York, New York
What it does: OnDeck provides loan services exclusively to small businesses. Clients can apply for term loans and credit lines online to receive funding fast, often within a day.

FORWARD FINANCING
Industry: Fintech
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
What it does: Forward Financing provides working capital to small businesses in the US, using its own proprietary technology to allow businesses access to financing as soon as the very same day. The company has provided over $500 million to over 10,000 growing businesses.

ENFUSION
Industry: Software
Location: Chicago, Illinois
What it does: Enfusion's completely integrated investment management platform assists hedge funds, institutional asset managers and family offices with compliance, trading, risk management, operations and even accounting. Its goal in giving clients a complete view of their businesses is to enhance operational efficiency.

MORNINGSTAR
Industry: Investment, Research
Location: Chicago, Illinois
What it does: Morningstar provides an array of products and services that connect everyday investors to professional-grade financial research and information so they can make better investment decisions.

VERIFI
Industry: Software, Payments
What it does: Verifi offers payment protection solutions and risk management services for companies of all sizes across multiple industries. The company's platform lets cardholders, issuers and merchants access real-time data that provides quicker resolutions. Verifi also helps companies fight and stop chargebacks, securely process payments, battle fraud and increase billings.

CIRCLE
Industry: Cryptocurrency
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
What it does: Circle is a crypto financial company guided by the principal that money should be open and free, but secure. Its products — including a wide selection of coins that allow users to easily transfer money across countries and currencies — help customers invest in new currencies.

OPTIVER
Industry: Investment
Location: Chicago
What it does: Headquartered in Amsterdam, but with a large presence in Chicago, Optiver, is a trading firm focused on “market making”. Not only does the company facilitate the buying and selling of stocks, bonds, futures, options, etc., but it also builds markets and provides extra liquidity to exchanges all over the world.

TRANSFERWISE
Industry: Currency Exchange, Software
Locations: New York and London
What it does: TransferWise moves money through its platform to other users all over the world at mid-market rates and with no unnecessary fees. In addition to individual users, TransferWise can be used by companies to invoice vendors regardless of currency.

SUPLARI
Industry: Financial Management, Software, Machine Learning
Location: Seattle
What it does: Suplari uses machine learning to help users better manage their costs. Finance, procurement and operations departments can all use the company’s platform to analyze spending trends, hit savings goals and even find areas where money is being inefficiently spent. Wayfair, Nordstrom and Spending Tree are just a few of the companies that use Suplari’s platform to analyze, predict and cut down on costs.

OPPLOANS
Industry: Mortgage, Lending
Location: Chicago
What it does: Opploans makes it easy to apply for personal loans. The application process takes minutes and the lower interest rate loans are issued in a matter of days. Applicants can apply for loans to cover everything from home and car repairs to family bills, medical emergencies and major purchases.

BILLTRUST
Industry: Payments
Location: Lawrenceville, New Jersey
What it does: Billtrust provides payment cycle management solutions to business services, manufacturing, transportation, distribution and equipment companies. Billtrust aims to accelerate the invoice-to-cash process, automate cash flow, give a company’s customers more flexibility and enhance organizational and operational efficiency.

GRAVITY PAYMENTS
Industry: Payments
Location: Seattle
What it does: Gravity Payments is a payment processing platform for small businesses that features lower rates and flexible processing solutions. The company’s platform streamlines financial transaction processing for everything from credit cards to POS systems and even gift cards.

VENMO
Industry: Payments
Location: New York, Chicago
What it does: Venmo makes it simple to exchange money between friends or even accept payments as a business. Going out to dinner with a friend and don’t want to split the bill with credit cards or cash? Maybe you want to pay your dog walker with something other than a check? Venmo’s app makes it easy to transfer money from your bank account into another users, so you can keep track of payments in real-time.

COINBASE
Industry: Blockchain, Bitcoin
Location: San Francisco, California
What it does: Coinbase is an online platform for buying, selling and managing digital currency that provides users with secure mobile access to their digital assets. Coinbase supports 32 countries and has exchanged more than $150 billion in various forms of digital currency, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin.

ACORNS
Industry: Savings, Investment, Mobile
Location: Irvine, California
What it does: Acorns is a savings and investment mobile application. Linked to a user’s financial accounts, it invests change from purchases in a diversified portfolio. Other products and services include IRAs, debit accounts and informational content that enables users to invest automatically and learn as they go.

ROBINHOOD
Industry: Stocks
Location: Menlo Park, California
What it does: Robinhood is an investment application that allows users to invest for free from a desktop or mobile device. Because there are no physical locations or individual account management services, Robinhood aims to make investing accessible to would-be traders who can’t quite swing the fees of a traditional brokerage house.

ADDEPAR
Industry: Investments
Location: Mountain View, California
What it does: Addepar is a performance reporting platform used by individuals, private banks and wealth advisors. The platform consolidates and manages all information across the investment world, providing a broader view and allowing investors to make more informed decisions.

AFFIRM
Industry: Lending
Location: San Francisco, California
What it does: Affirm is a lending platform that allows users to pay for online purchases in small installments. The company offers interest rates as low as zero percent and allows users to choose plans ranging from three to 36 months so they can pay over time for trips, electronics, furniture and more.

CARTA
Industry: Investments, Software
Location: Palo Alto, California
What it does: Carta is a management platform for private and public companies as well as investment firms. Its products help businesses manage and track company and employee equity, manage portfolios and back office processes and keep current with SEC and IRS regulations.

GUARANTEED RATE
Industry: Mortgages, Lending
Location: Chicago, Illinois
What it does: Guaranteed Rate is a mortgage provider and lending service that offers digital solutions to home buyers and those looking to refinance existing mortgages. The company's digital home mortgage enables customers to receive loan approval as well as upload and sign required documents — all online.

TRANSUNION
Industry: Credit
Location: Chicago, Illinois
What it does: TransUnion began as a credit reporting agency and now offers multiple financial services and solutions for businesses, governments and individuals. Using data collected from millions of consumers around the world, the company provides deep information that helps consumers, companies and organizations make better financial decisions.

COMMONBOND
Industry: Lending
Location: New York, New York
What it does: CommonBond works with students throughout their loan journey, from the beginning of their college career to post-graduation refinancing. The company offers a variety of loans for undergraduate and graduate students as well as medical and dental students. CommonBond also partners with Pencils of Promise to cover educational costs for children in the developing world.

CREDIT KARMA
Industry: Credit Reporting
Location: San Francisco, California
What it does: Credit Karma offers users open access to credit scores, monitoring and reports, all for free and as often as a user needs it. Using this data, the site recommends new credit opportunities, loans, auto insurance and can even help dispute credit report errors.

FUNDRISE
Industry: Real Estate
Location: Washington, D.C.
What it does: Fundrise is a platform helps expand stocks-and-bonds-based portfolios to include real estate investments. Although it features dozens of multi-million dollar real estate projects, a starter portfolios require only a $500 initial investment.

KABBAGE
Industry: Lending
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
What it does: Kabbage provides financing options for small businesses online. Because access to capital is a major pain point to small businesses, Kabbage allows companies to grow by hiring more employees, increasing marketing or buying more inventory. The company offers lines of credit up to $250,000 and lets users apply anywhere through its mobile app.

GREENSKY
Industry: Loans
Location: Atlanta, Georgia
What it does: GreenSky is a consumer- and business-facing loan service. Besides providing home improvement loans to individuals, the company helps businesses in the healthcare, retail and home improvement markets offer financing options to customers.

LENDING CLUB
Industry: Lending
Location: San Francisco, California
What it does: Lending Club is a peer-to-peer and alternative investing service providing new options for those seeking capital and those looking to invest. Through an online marketplace, investors purchase notes or fractions of loans and borrowers receive funds for such things as debt consolidation and home renovations.

NERDWALLET
Industry: Credit Cards, Mortgages, Insurance, Loans
Location: San Francisco, California
What it does: Nerdwallet provides a host of financial tools and services, including credit card and bank comparison, investing how-tos, loan information and mortgage advice. The company's services help consumers navigate the congested and often confusing worlds of finance, investment, insurance and banking.

NETSPEND
Industry: Prepaid Cards
Location: Austin, Texas
What it does: Netspend's products allow individuals and businesses to manage money through reloadable prepaid cards. The company's services are especially useful for those who lack traditional bank accounts or rely on alternative banking methods.

PERSONAL CAPITAL
Industry: Software
Location: San Carlos, California
What it does: Personal Capital provides free personal financial tools to help users manage all of their accounts in one place. The platform’s dashboards display insights like net worth, portfolio balances, account transactions, investment returns and spending by account. The company also facilitates access to financial advisors.

SOFI
Industry: Loans, Wealth Management
Location: San Francisco, California
What it does: SoFi provides refinancing, loan and wealth management services. In assessing a user's rates and determining the likelihood of loan repayment, the digital company's algorithm takes into account factors beyond income and credit history. Things like education, career and estimated cash flow are also part of the mix. In addition, SoFi offers benefits for which most institutions charge extra or require large balances, including career services, unemployment protection and financial advising.

STRIPE
Industry: Payments, Software
Location: San Francisco, California
What it does: Stripe's internet commerce platform provides tools for marketplaces, subscription services, e-commerce businesses and crowdfunding platforms. Millions of online businesses — including Pinterest, Warby Parker, Kickstarter, Instacart and Squarespace — use the platform to manage payments and structure online billing processes.

WEALTHFRONT
Industry: Investments
Location: Palo Alto, California
What they do: Wealthfront is an automated investment solution designed for millennials. Whether users want to buy a home, take a year off to travel or plan for retirement, Wealthfront helps them plan for the future. The automated investment tool uses passive investing strategies to build a diversified portfolio and maximize returns.

YAPSTONE
Industry: Payments
Location: Walnut Creek, California
What it does: Yapstone's comprehensive payments platform aims to simplify global transactions and payment integration for industry-specific businesses. It powers leading marketplaces and companies like HomeAway, Evolve Vacation Rental Network and RentPath.

The VC firm, Accel led the contribution alongside Lydia’s existing shareholders, which include China’s Tencent to make it a record-breaking success.

Launched in 2013, Lydia is now a household name in France, with a stronghold of millennials, which include 30% of all under-30s signed up according to reports. They managed to surpuss the 4M user mark in Q4 2020, despite barriers of the covid-pandemic. Additionally, the mobile payment app recorded 100% growth in volumes transacted.

“The uncertainties of 2020 have provoked the younger, mobile generation to look for even more control and real-time visibility of their financial situation,” said Cyril Chiche, Lydia’s co-founder and CEO. “I believe Lydia now has exactly what it takes to become Europe’s leading financial super-app.”

Chiche explained the new funds would go towards expanding the app beyond France, although Lydia has previously struggled with going international, pulling out of the UK earlier this year.

Using its newly acquired investment funds, Lydia shared its intention to gear its product roadmap towards emerging consumer preference for mobile apps, particularly within banking and financial health monitoring.

Geographic expansion also appears to be on the company’s roadmap: 2020 marked the launch of its services in Portugal, with other European locations on the horizon for 2021.

This investment will not only enable us to respond to our customers’ needs faster and move into new markets, but also benefit from Amit’s experience building Venmo and the Accel team’s broader experience from journeys with some of the world’s most successful B2C companies.

Image credit: Lydia

London, 16.12.2020: Curve, the banking platform that combines multiple cards and accounts into one smart card and app, is rolling out Open Banking services to its UK customers in tandem with Plaid, an open finance data network. From today, Curve customers in the UK can connect and see their bank balances in the Curve app for the first time, making it easier for customers to monitor their spending.

Curve and Plaid join forces

Using Plaid’s Open Banking platform, Curve customers can track their finances in one place, including balances from their Mastercard and Visa cards. Plaid helps Curve’s customers connect their payment accounts from other financial institutions in the UK, including banks such as Monzo, Starling, Barclays and HSBC. The Plaid platform ensures that user-permissioned data  is securely shared and updated in real-time in the Curve app, and customers can withdraw their permission to share their data at any time.

With the help of Plaid, Curve also provides customers with an up-to-date balance of their cards before they use them. As a result, Curve customers gain enhanced insights into their own financial behaviour so they can improve their financial  decision-making.

The introduction of Plaid’s Open Banking capabilities into Curve’s platform paves the way for new products and services that allow customers to better understand their accounts, and help them make the most of their money. The collaboration between Curve and Plaid cements a new milestone in Curve’s mission to allow customers to manage all their money, in all its forms, from one card and app.

Plaid’s APIs (Application Programme Interfaces) are Open Banking and PSD2 compliant, delivering secure and reliable access to the UK’s financial ecosystem. Plaid’s security programme is designed to exceed industry standards, using a number of different controls to keep personal information safe, including data encryption, Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and independent security testing.

Tom Hay, Curve’s Head of PayTech, said: “We are excited to work with Plaid to offer the benefits of Open Banking to Curve’s UK customers. This collaboration is another tangible example of our commitment to driving innovation in the market. With the introduction of Open Banking, we are offering Curve’s UK customers greater control of their finances at the touch of a button, helping them to spend with confidence.”

Keith Grose, Plaid’s Head of International, said: "Both Plaid and Curve focus on giving people control over their own financial lives to make money easier to manage. This collaboration brings the power of Open Banking to millions more people – and our work together to help people live healthier financial lives is just beginning."

As the UK begins to explore the transition to open finance, collaborations like that of Curve and Plaid will be critical to helping people securely access and control a wider pool of their financial data, such as pensions and investments. In the coming years, the two companies will continue to develop new products and features that  help people take control of their financial lives.

To enjoy the benefits of the collaboration, a new user simply needs to download the Curve app. Open banking features, powered by Plaid, are  free of charge for all Curve users.

About Curve

Curve is a banking platform consolidating multiple cards and accounts into one smart card and app. The unique Curve card allows customers to supercharge their legacy banks to the 21st century without leaving their bank or topping-up. Curve is live in 31 markets across the European Economic Area (EEA).

Curve offers a host of benefits to its customers, who get notifications and categorisation of spend; the capacity to earn instant 1% cashback at the likes of Amazon, John Lewis, Deliveroo, Uber, Netflix, ASOS and Tesco, and Go Back in Time enables customers to swap spend to a different card in the app for up to 90 days after the purchase was made.

Curve currently supports Mastercard® and Visa only. The Curve Card and E-money is issued by Curve OS Limited authorised in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority to issue electronic money (firm reference number 900926).

Of the more than 1300 financial industry executives polled by the professional services firm, 88 percent said they feared their business was at risk to standalone financial technology companies in areas such as payments, money transfers and personal finance, the study found.

In banking specifically, consumer services such as personal loans, were seen as most at risk, according to PwC's annual Global FinTech Report published on Wednesday.

The report came as banks and other large financial firms face growing competition from a young cohort of companies that take advantage of new technologies to offer better digital services to customers, in areas ranging from financial advice to life insurance.

To counter the threat, financial institutions expected to increase their collaboration with fintech companies, with 82 percent of respondents saying partnerships with tech-savvy firms would increase over the next three to five years, the PwC report found.

To improve their digital offering and remain competitive, large firms have been looking to work more closely with young technology companies through a number of initiatives such as corporate venture arms and innovation centers.

In his annual shareholder letter published on Tuesday, JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive Jamie Dimon highlighted some of the bank's most recent collaborations with fintech companies in areas including mortgages, small business lending and payments.

While collaboration is on the rise, entrepreneurs and executives often note that several hurdles are hindering more effective cooperation. IT security, regulatory uncertainty and differences in management and culture, were cited by respondents to PwC's report as major challenges hindering partnerships.

In particular, data privacy rules, as well as anti-money laundering and know-your-customer rules were seen as the biggest regulatory barriers to developing more innovative services.

The report also highlighted how interest in record-keeping technology blockchain continues to grow in finance, with investments in blockchain companies growing 79 percent year over year in 2016 to $450 million.

While adoption of the nascent technology is not expected to happen quickly, the survey found 55 percent  of respondents planned to adopt it by next year, and 77 percent by 2020.

DBS chief innovation officer Neal Cross explained that it's gotten this far because China's landscape has operated in a sandbox-like environment conducive for FinTech to thrive - a strong domestic market, coupled with a constant push for innovation and experimentation driven by leading giants, unhindered by international influence. Much of this can be attributed to the favorable government policies and regulations. EY APAC FinTech leader James Lloyd also commented on the subject, saying ""China's unique mix of rapid urbanization, massive and underserved market, e-commerce growth, explosion in online and mobile phone penetration, and customer adoption willingness have created a fertile ground for innovation in commerce, banking and financial services more broadly.""

Consumer Capital Group Inc. (OTCQB: CCGN) just announced earlier this morning that a subsidiary of CCGN, Yin Hang Financial Information Service (Shanghai) Co., Ltd (""CCG Yin Hang"") and Beijing Tongcheng Yilong Network Technology Co., Ltd.(""Yilongdai"") successfully signed a strategic cooperation agreement. Partnering with Yilongdai, CCG Yin Hang can provide better financial advisory service for micro, small-to-medium sized enterprises (""SMEs"") in China.

CCG Yin Hang offers financial consulting services such as loan origination criteria checkup, risk assessment and loan monitoring to SMEs and financial institutions in China. Yin Hang has developed its own big data risk assessment system to provide credit rating and risk management solutions to borrowers and financial institutions to facilitate loan origination process and reduce default risks for all parties involved in a particular lending transaction.

In 2017, CCG Yin Hang upgraded and optimized its 'Ingenuity IPCs' risk assessment technology, developing a unique and mature risk management system. The new system not only is based on advanced technology, but also strengthened managers' awareness of risk management. By using this new risk assessment system, the company can provide better financial and risk-management consulting services to SMEs and rebuild the small micro-financial ecology.

Yilongdai, a member of Lenovo Holdings, is the first 'City O2O' model online lending platform. Yilongdai aims to provide P2P loan service to farmers in rural areas and SMEs. The platform serves as an information provider, a matchmaker between lenders and borrowers and a risk controller. Yilongdai provides public with low threshold, efficient, safe and reliable financing means to meet their capital needs.

CEO and Chairman of the Board, Mr. Jack Gao stated, ""Partnering with Yilongdai, CCG Yin Hang will offer SMEs alternative financing means through risk-controlled private lending to meet their capital needs and develop their business.""

Yirendai Ltd. (NYSE: YRD) provides an effective solution to address largely underserved investor and individual borrower demand in China through an online platform that automates key aspects of its operations to efficiently match borrowers with investors and execute loan transactions. Recently, the company announced that it has entered into an agreement of intent on performance bond with the Beijing branch of PICC Property and Casualty Company Limited. Under the terms of the Agreement, PICC P&C will provide Yirendai with performance bond for certain loans facilitated through the Company's online marketplace.

China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (NYSE: LFC) is a leading provider of individual and group life insurance, annuity, and accident and health insurance in China. With its controlling stake in China Life Pension Company Ltd and significant stakes in China Life Property and Casualty Insurance Company Ltd, the Company has gradually expanded into other insurance-related areas. In 2016, the company launched 'Xin Fu Yi Sheng' at the Individual Agent Channel. The 'Xin Fu Yi Sheng' is a stand-alone insurance product, which can be bundled with two riders and the Xin Universal Account for comprehensive insurance coverage and high-quality wealth management.

Yintech Investment Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: YIN) is a leading provider of investment and trading services for individual customers in China. The company is focused on the provision of services for the trading of gold and other spot commodities. The company provides customers with comprehensive services, including account opening, investor education, market information, research, live discussion boards and real-time customer support. Yintech is actively developing new businesses including gold-based wealth management products, trading of cultural assets and trading of overseas securities, in order to provide customers with a wider range of products and services.

Founded in 2005, Noah Holdings Limited (NYSE: NOAH) is a leading wealth and asset management services provider with a focus on global services for high net worth individuals, enterprises and institutions in China. In October, 2016, the company announced that Noah, Gopher Asset Management Co., Ltd., a consolidated affiliated entity of Noah, and certain other affiliated entities of Noah had entered into an Investment and Cooperation Agreement with an affiliate of Sequoia Capital China. Under the terms of the Agreement, Sequoia will make a RMB348 million (approximately US$51.7 million) strategic investment in Noah's asset management business by acquiring equity interests in an entity that will, through itself and/or its affiliates, hold all equity interests and asset management assets of Gopher.

Under the agreement, FinTech Studios users can access OpenExchange's patented videoconference technology, currently being used by many of the largest financial institutions in the world. FinTech Studios users can seamlessly navigate from its advanced AI-based news, research and market analytics application to OpenExchange's video platform, making financial news and information more actionable than ever before. Users can engage in video calls securely with participants inside and outside the combined user bases of OpenExchange and FinTech Studios.  The partnership also helps streamline the process of joining Virtual Group Meetings that are being organized at a growing rate by the sell-side around the globe.

OpenExchange users now have access to FinTech Studios' array of financial information and analytics sourced from around the world. This partnership helps OpenExchange to expand its 1000+ Global Connected Network of public companies, intermediaries, and institutional investors, by offering enhanced access to financial content and collaboration capabilities.

""The spectrum of on demand financial content will soon mirror mainstream media, with users looking to access timely research and market data from thousands of major global sources in an integrated manner. This partnership accelerates that vision by adding videoconferencing. Investors have always stressed the importance and value of a face-to-face meeting with corporate management teams. This solution provides integrated access to this key content and management access through video that investors are looking for,"" said Mark Loehr, OpenExchange Chief Executive Office. ""Our joint agreement with FinTech Studios brings many thousands of new market participants into our videoconference community. As our business continues to grow at a rapid clip, our expansion into the Asian financial community is one of many areas that will greatly benefit from this partnership.""

OpenExchange and FinTech Studios will also deliver new and unique functionality by integrating OpenExchange's latest webcasting solution into FinTech Studios' APOLLO.ai™ investment research, and analytics service designed for portfolio managers, research analysts, hedge funds, banks, brokerage firms, RIA's, advisory firms, private equity firms, venture capital firms, family offices, media companies, and others.  ""We are excited to enrich APOLLO.ai with the trusted videoconference technology provided by OpenExchange,"" said FinTech Studios CEO Jim Tousignant.  ""We designed APOLLO.ai with the vision of providing integrated apps and multi-media content that was more actionable than alternative sources. Allowing for ideas to escalate immediately into an active video call with key market participants certainly helps achieve that goal.""

About OpenExchange

OpenExchange is a community based video exchange that enhances interaction within the financial community. Our solution enables financial services professionals to communicate more effectively with each other using their existing video infrastructure. By using OpenExchange, the buy-side, sell-side and corporate issuers can arrange and conduct one-on-one and group meetings using secure, private, high quality video. Citi, Barclays Electronic Commerce Holdings and Ipreo LLC are strategic owners of OpenExchange.

To learn more, visit www.openexc.com or contact Nicole Maselli at 617.600.6273 / 152341@email4pr.com

About FinTech Studios

FinTech Studios develops and markets a cloud-based platform of curated, disruptive FinTech apps and big-data financial analytic products in partnership with leading FinTech startups, financial institutions, data providers, and strategic partners.  FinTech Studios was founded in 2014 by Jim Tousignant, previously co-founder and President of Multex, a leading online platform of brokerage research, fundamental data, and earnings estimates that went public in 1999 and achieved a market cap of $1.5 billion.  FinTech Studios' apps, financial analytics, and collaboration tools consolidate and integrate content from millions of online sources and proprietary databases with powerful search technology, analytics, sharing, and collaboration tools, providing the most timely and relevant business and financial insight.