U.S. Bank plans to use the upcoming Super Bowl to build brand awareness; being based in Minneapolis, home to this year’s Super Bowl, will allow the company to utilize the game to increase local exposure; the company plans to run local ads during the game along with sponsored videos on social media channels; they also plan to use local Minneapolis space in coffee shops for example to have people interact with technology and compete for prizes; “We want to get people in the space, and help them get exposed to the brand and learn a little bit and get engaged in a fun activity,” said Chris Lee, head of sponsorships for U.S. Bank, to TearSheet. Source.
JoinedNov. 30, 2016
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Todd is the host of PitchIt: the fintech startups podcast, a weekly interview show featuring emerging fintech founders and leading venture capitalists. He is responsible for leading the content team which covers fintech through daily & weekly email newsletters, editorial, virtual events, and in-person conferences. He has been covering fintech, banking, and venture capital for more than 15 years, including speaking regularly at industry events.
What has been a standard feature at big banks for some time, real time messaging is now being offered by community banks who see the value in reaching customers more efficiently; the digital feature could also help the bank to reach more people who they would normally not have access to; “We can use it as a counseling tool to help strengthen relationships and improve a customer's financial health," said Ron Strand-Sorrell, EVP and COO at Axiom Bank, to American Banker as they recently rolled out the messaging; becoming more digital can also help the banks to better position themselves to attract millennials. Source.
European deposit marketplace Raisin has passed $6mn in brokered savings deposits; deposits grew by more than $3.5mn in 2017 and they saw their international customer base grow by 20 percent; the company acquired PBF Solutions, passed 100,000 customers, added 12 new partner banks and received more than $49mn in interest income last year; “We are pleased to be able to offer savers throughout Europe an attractive alternative.” said Tamaz Georgadze, CEO and founding member, to AltFi. Source.
Anthony Thomson, Founder & Chairman of Atom Bank, is stepping down after the company completes their latest fundraising; Bridget Rosewell, current non executive director, will assume they role left by Anthony; Mr. Thomson started the digital bank in 2014, raised more than $350mn and has guided the company to a top 10 rating in KPMG’s fintech rankings; “Since having the idea for Atom bank in early 2012, it has gone from being a big idea disguised as a small bank to a big idea and a big bank,” said Thomson in a statement reported by AltFi. Source.
Mastercard said all consumers will be able to use biometric identification when they shop and pay by April of next year; banks offering Mastercard branded cards will have to have biometrics alongside the typical PIN and password; the company cited consumers preference for this type of authentication and new regulations like PSD2 in Europe; Mark Barnett, president, Mastercard UK and Ireland, tells Banking Technology: “It will make the purchase much smoother, and instead of having to remember passwords to authenticate, shoppers will have the chance to use a fingerprint or a picture of themselves.” Source.
Bank of America’s Cathy Bessant says the bank’s talent is just as important as the technology they implement; the bank plans to spend more than $600mn on cybersecurity alone and says to TearSheet, “Sometime’s theres a misunderstanding that cyber defense is somehow all technology, and it’s not,” she said. “It’s judgment and how to assess a threat and think about mitigation every single day.”; technology is not only making the bank more efficient but it has also forced the bank to retrain employees for new technology skills, making the bank stronger overall; the bank is making a big push into AI and currently has more than 80 patents related to the new technology. Source.
US banks closed more than 2,000 bank branches in 2017, an 18 percent increase form the year earlier; Wells Fargo is one of the leading banks as they closed 194 branches and plan to close more than 800 more by 2020; other banks like Citizens Financial is reducing square footage at branches but not closing as many; Banking Technology lists the top 10 banks by branch closures. Source.
Early last year UK online lender Zopa closed the platform to new investors, they have now re-opened it; investors will be able to invest in both the Core and Plus products, with and without the IFISA; last week Zopa also announced for the first time since 2015 they were raising target investor rates to 4 percent for Core and 4.6 percent for Plus. Source.
After a successful pilot last summer Venmo has started to roll out instant bank transfers; the service will require a Visa or Mastercard debit card and allow for transfers to be done within 30 minutes for $0.25 fee; the free version of bank transfers will remain; PayPal, who owns Venmo, hopes the instant transfers will help with revenues. Source.
Citi’s mobile app users grew by 21 percent the past year to reach 9 million users; this adoption is a lot slower than peers at Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo who see mobile app users over 20 million; Citi’s growth for the past year is higher and their adoption is beginning to increase; Citi was slower to the game of adopting the new digital features but has since started to catch up by launching Citi FinTech; the new unit has helped the company to launch over 800 digital increases in the past year, a 300 percent increase; the company is planning to keep investing heavily in fintech and is optimistic about their future adoption trends. Source.