What’d I miss? News and Insights that got noticed - Week 30

Key themes this week (July 19 - 25)

• Sibongile Ngako joins US fintech Brex as chief compliance officer
• Truist Says Digital Onboarding Key to 42% Deposit Growth
• POLL Results: Most people not (yet) ready to have financial advice conversation with a voice-assistant
• UK open banking hits 10 million users

Former Affirm VP Sibongile Ngako joins US fintech Brex as chief compliance officer

"...Ngako will commence her tenure at Brex alongside her current standing as an advisory board member for FinRegLab, a non-profit organisation said to be “promoting the safe and intelligent use of technology and data in financial services and shaping industry best practices and regulatory frameworks...”

Key takeaways:

• Sibongile Ngako has been appointed as the new chief compliance officer (CCO) of Brex, replacing Jason Brown.
• Ngako previously worked at Affirm, where she developed and implemented a compliance management system.
• Brex, valued at over $12 billion in 2022, has undergone significant workforce reductions in recent years.

LinkedIn Post

Truist Says Digital Onboarding Key to 42% Deposit Growth

“...Client preferences continue to shift toward mobile,” Truist leadership said Monday, noting that the bank’s deposit growth is being fueled more and more by digital onboarding. The company’s “enhanced account opening experience” contributed to a 42% lift over the same quarter last year in digital checking account production among Generation Z and millennials, which Truist leadership attributed to the bank’s reimagined consumer and small business deposit application experience delivering personalized account recommendations. Per the company’s quarterly presentation, its modernized small business digital onboarding experience resulted in new highs in application completion rates, with small business digital adoption continuing to climb: active clients increased 10% YoY, averaging 30 logins per month..."

Key takeaways:

• Truist Financial Corporation is investing heavily in technology and digital infrastructure to keep up with the increasing demand for online and mobile banking.
• The bank's focus on digital onboarding has led to a 42% increase in digital checking account production among Gen Z and millennials.
• Truist's modernized small business digital onboarding experience has resulted in new highs in application completion rates, with active clients increasing 10% YoY.
• Despite growth in digital banking, Truist's total revenues for the most recent quarter were down $6.5 billion, primarily due to securities losses.

LinkedIn Post

POLL Results: Most people not (yet) ready to have financial advice conversation with a voice-assistant like Amazon Echo

Things change over time...

When eCommerce just started people were saying they would never buy clothing online because they had to try it on in person.

Before the pandemic happened not many people were doing business over video conference (doctor visits, school, conferences).

So when I read the WSJ article about how the Echo speaker from Amazon was in most cases a glorified timer that can also tell you the weather, I wondered how long it will take before consumers are comfortable using the voice-assistant to do more complex and potentially private transactions.

So the POLL question for this week was: "When are you ready to have a financial advice conversation with a voice-assistant like Alexa/Echo?"?

Key takeaways:

• 56% of respondents will never do it
• 33% of respondent maybe in a couple of years
• 11% is ready now to engage in financial advice with a voice-assistant

These were the answers at time of publishing of this newsletter for final results go to:

LinkedIn Post

UK open banking hits 10 million users

"...More than 10 million UK consumers and small businesses are now regularly benefiting from using open banking technology.

The milestone comes six-and-a-half years after the rollout of open banking in the UK, building an ecosystem worth more than ￡4 billion to the economy and creating around 5000 skilled digital jobs, claims Open Banking Limited (OBL)..."

Key takeaways:

• Open banking has created an ecosystem worth over ￡4 billion and around 5000 skilled digital jobs.
• Payment Initiation Service users are up 61% YoY, while Account Information Service users have grown 27% YoY.
• The government has committed to introducing smart data powers through a new bill, which will lay the foundations for future growth of the open banking ecosystem.

?LinkedIn Post

CrowdStrike aftermath: Microsoft claims it cannot legally implement the same protections as Apple

"...Macs weren’t affected because Apple doesn’t allow security apps to have such deep-level access to the operating system. Instead, macOS itself does the type of monitoring performed by CrowdStrike, then allows security apps to see the results.

The Wall Street Journal cites Microsoft saying that an agreement with the EU means that it isn’t allowed to block low-level access to Windows..."

Key takeaways:

• A CrowdStrike update caused 8.5 million Windows PCs to crash, disrupting critical services worldwide.
• Macs were unaffected due to Apple's Endpoint Security Framework, which limits the level of access security apps have to the operating system.
• Microsoft claims it cannot legally implement the same protections as Apple due to a 2009 agreement with the European Commission.
• 9to5Mac argues that Microsoft's claim seems dubious, as it could still comply with antitrust law by giving third-party apps the same access to security results as its own apps.

LinkedIn Post

CFPB to apply lending laws to EWA

“…The federal agency weighed in Thursday with a proposed rule to oversee the burgeoning earned wage access industry…”

Key takeaways:

• The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed to subject the earned wage access (EWA) industry to U.S. lending laws.
• The CFPB labeled some early wage payments to workers that charge fees as "consumer loans".
• The agency found workers with access to EWA services use them 27 times per year on average, paying interest at an annual percentage rate of over 100%.
• Some states have passed laws friendly to the industry, while others have moved to subject EWA payments to lending laws.

LinkedIn Post

Billie Begins Adding B2B BNPL to Stripe Platform in Europe

"...Billie’s B2B buy now, pay later (BNPL) solution has been integrated with Stripe and is now available on that financial infrastructure platform to select customers in Europe. The new solution will be tested by select online shops and marketplaces in Germany, France and the Netherlands throughout the summer before being made available to other businesses running on Stripe’s platform later this year, Billie said in a Tuesday (July 23) press release..."

Key takeaways:

• Billie's B2B BNPL solution is now integrated with Stripe and available to select customers in Europe.
• The solution will be tested in Germany, France, and the Netherlands throughout the summer before being widely available later this year.
• Billie's B2B BNPL solution allows businesses to defer payments for 30 days while sellers receive payment upon shipping goods.
• The solution provides real-time buyer approval, default and fraud risk protection for merchants.

LinkedIn Post

Creators and Founders Power Walk

What a great turnout at yesterday’s Tech Power Walk event hosted by Staaake.?

Such a nice way to connect with many different people with very interesting backgrounds.?

This week we made it to the Friends building without any rain ???.

Key takeaways:

• Weekly power walk for creators, founders and anybody who wants to make new friends!
• Great conversations with very interesting people
• Getting your 6,000 steps in
• Become part of a great community with its own WhatsApp group when you attend the walk

LinkedIn Post

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