Dickson Chu

Curious about how we spot the most unobvious winners at seed? It’s simple - we invest in those we’d never want to bet against. In 2017 slice was a scrappy fintech financing smartphones for college students. Today, it’s set to become India’s first true digital bank, catering to the needs of India’s Gen Z. With this merger, Slice is poised to simplify digital banking for a billion Indians, establishing a new gold standard of customer-focused banking.

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Don’t throw the baby out with the BaaS water Imagine if any business could offer banking services without the headache of building their own payment, lending and settlement infrastructure – this is the power of BaaS (Banking as a Service). By granting third parties access to bank systems, BaaS allows companies to integrate banking functions directly into their products effortlessly. This transformation, often termed “Embedded Finance,” is reshaping how financial services are consumed and delivered. 💸 Embedded Finance at Scale By 2026, embedded finance revenues in the U.S. are projected to more than double, reaching $51 billion, and worldwide revenues are expected to quadruple to over $160 billion (source: Bain & Company). More impressively, over $7 trillion in transactions will be processed through embedded financial services. This growth underscores the vested interest both banks and users have in making these services ubiquitous and continuously modernized. ⛔️ The Middleware Misstep Not all implementations of BaaS have been successful. The middleware approach to BaaS has faced significant challenges. It's not BaaS itself but the middleware architecture that has faltered, as illustrated by the recent struggles of Synapse. As QED Investors' Amias Gerety recently highlighted it, the BaaS model may be stronger without the middleware layer that Synapse represented (👉🏼 https://lnkd.in/dgg76UTc). The industry's evolution from these challenges has made it more resilient and robust. 🏦 Banks are Back The pendulum is swinging back to incumbent banks, which are regaining their lead role in the ecosystem. While Fintech players initially propelled embedded financial services, incumbent banks, with their robust compliance and risk management practices, are indispensable. These banks are now augmenting their existing transactional and risk infrastructures (AML, KYC) to enable new Fintech offerings swiftly and in line with regulatory standards. This shift provides immediate alternatives to struggling middleware players and lays the groundwork for a new enablement layer atop core banking systems. ☁️ The Platform Approach Financial institutions would benefit from pivoting from the BaaS middleware provider model towards developing their own platforms. Why? This internal approach mitigates the risks and compliance gaps inherent in middleware. By collaborating with vetted software vendors, banks can build resilient and scalable platforms addressing key areas of compliance, risk management, documentation, resilience and transparency - all in real-time. In short, the BaaS model is far from broken. It simply needs a refined approach, leveraging the strengths of incumbent banks to build a more resilient, compliant, and innovative financial ecosystem. Let's not throw the baby out with the BaaS water.

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I spoke to ~120 banks in fintech since we started Unit. They all had the same dilemma: build or buy technology? There's an old misconception that buying technology is "going indirect" with clients. It's not. Direct relationships are table stakes in the current regulatory environment. Today, banks can buy and maintain direct relationships with clients. Buying means better oversight and control. Joe Oehmke just published a very important guide for banks that compares between: 1. Building 2. Buying core wrappers 3. Buying a single operating system Read it here: https://lnkd.in/ekQhA4K5

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It's concerning to see the impact of financial #fraud on older Americans in the digital age. According to the National Institute of Justice, they lose nearly $36 billion annually to these types of scams, impersonating a #bank branch or a loved one, with the added threat of AI-powered spam calls, the situation becomes even more #challenging for those less #techsavvy. However, there is hope on the horizon. Fast Company recently featured Charlie, a banking fintech company dedicated to older Americans. Charlie is developing an innovative anti-fraud system called SpeedBump. This system #detects unauthorized money transfers, delays payments for 6 hours, giving users the crucial time needed to prevent fraudulent activity. Do you have a loved one who is aging out of current technology? Would you consider recommending Charlie Banking to them? Why don’t more banks implement anti-fraud systems for elders?

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I couldn't be more excited to be offering the Lumos Data Business Reports as part of our offerings at Lenders Cooperative. Reducing friction in business lending is a top concern I hear when talking to #banks and #creditunions. This report create a key aspect to understanding the borrower for approvals or just a deeper review. Reach out so I can share an example with you! Brett Caines Cory Jones Lee Demby Cary Cooper #lending #loanorigination #businesslending #smallbusinesslending

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Ranqx with Seth B., Dave Lewis, and WSECU Press Release WSECU invests in Ranqx in support of a better business lending experience Nashville, TN/Auckland, NZ. (Aug 26, 2024) – Ranqx a fully digital small business lending platform announced today that Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU) headquartered in Olympia, Wash. has made an initial investment into Ranqx through their holding company, One Washington Financial. Their commitment includes an agreement to implement the Ranqx platform for a community-impacting pilot. This investment will help further the research and development work Ranqx is doing to help credit unions drive community prosperity by ensuring that small and medium sized business have access to the working capital they need to succeed. “The best way to help communities thrive is to help small and medium sized businesses thrive,“ said Seth Brickman, President of Ranqx. Brickman went on to share that research performed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau notes that, 'Small businesses are the engines of growth in our communities, driving wealth creation and upward financial mobility. When small businesses succeed, our economy is stronger, more equitable and more resilient." Brickman said, “Providing working capital to SMB’s in a digital experience with decisioning in 5 minutes instead of the typical 2 week manual process will change the way SMB’s interact with credit unions.” Credit unions are currently only receiving about eight percent of SMB lending and the majority of it is from commercial real estate loans. The ability to provide working capital loans, business credit cards and lines of credit will not only help small and medium-sized businesses thrive but will also drive depository relationships back to the credit union.” “We are excited to partner with Ranqx to help the small and medium sized businesses that make up our communities, said Scott Daukas, Principal of One Washington Financial, WSECU’s holding company. “We want to provide capital to these organizations with an easy, streamlined experience, so that members can stay focused on growing their businesses. Ranqx will help us deliver on that vision while also providing the responsible lending practices that are expected of a world-class lender.” Ranqx offers business lenders the world’s best fully digital, compliant loan origination, decisioning (using banking data, accounting data, and over 1200 API driven data points) and monitoring platform. Ranqx focuses on delivering the best customer application experience possible. Ranqx supports lenders to digitally transition your organization with all the speed, revenue growth and cost saving benefits that it delivers as you positively impact community prosperity. ### Media Contact: Seth Brickman President, Ranqx/Ranqx CUSO [email protected]

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Fintech companies are prioritizing innovation to enhance brand reputation and attract Gen Z consumers, with 42% aiming to bolster their brand image, according to a PYMNTS Intelligence and Velera report. Presently, fintech companies are intensifying their mobile capabilities and user experience enhancements to retain existing customers and entice new ones, with 67% emphasizing mobile growth in the next three years. Looking ahead, regulatory hurdles and technical complexities pose significant challenges to bringing innovations to market, with 34% citing regulatory compliance and integrating different systems as primary obstacles. #Fintech

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Here are some bold takeaways from the first two days at #Money2020USA 👇 💡 #Fintech focus has shifted—it’s less about innovation and distribution and more about navigating the regulatory landscape. Heavy hitters like CFPB Director Rohit Chopra, SEC Chair Gary Gensler, and Utah Governor Cox have dominated the fintech stage. The 1033 debate of whether it is the CFPB purview seems not settled and the announcements almost seemed rushed for election impact 💡 Political predictions are buzzing with Gary Cohen and others forecasting major shifts: White House to Trump, Senate to GOP, and House to Democrats. Last time we saw such a scenario? Time to check the history books. 💡 #AI is everywhere with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google in the spotlight. See attached image. Surprised OpenAI’s CFO wasn’t pressed on the ‘closed’ AI rumors, leadership exits, or how the philanthropic-to-profit setup is really impacting growth. 💡 Benchmarks are trending—AI Adoption Index, Open Banking Index, M2020 awards—signs that the industry is maturing? 💡 Blockchain, crypto, and stablecoins are back, especially with Stripe’s acquisition of Bridge ,signaling how regulatory winds may shift post-election. 💡 Unspoken but felt: Fintech IPOs and early capital are desperately needed. But realistically, AI and AI agents in financial services will likely take the lead for capital allocations, making it harder for traditional fintechs without an AI angle to stay relevant. 💡 Met with some game-changing AI-focused startups and fintech execs ready to launch AI Agents in finance. Recording podcast with them—subscribe to get these announcements first: https://lnkd.in/gKiVE7R

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The #CFPB's proposed 2025 cap on overdraft fees is a game-changer. Slashing them from a hefty $30 to a mere $3 creates a significant revenue gap for issuers. Excited to share Kipp - Authorize More's new guide where we looked closely at the top 24 debit card issuers in the US. Worth a read! 💫 #overdrafts #creditcards #Payments #banks

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Capital One has partnered with Minna Technologies to offer new subscription management tools DIRECTLY in the bank’s mobile app 📲 🤝 📈 This partnership comes at a time when the subscription economy is set to reach a global market value of $1.5 TRILLION by 2025 and according to Minna’s latest subscription economy research - it shows that more than 37% of U.S. consumers have INCREASED their spend on subscriptions compared to 12 months ago! 💳 🇺🇸 Capital One have ALSO introduced the ability for eligible credit card customers to view and cancel recurring charges with select major merchants and Capital One are the FIRST bank in the U.S. to offer these tools to its customers, at no additional cost. 👨‍💻 Matt Knise, Senior Vice President, Capital One, added: “Keeping track of recurring subscriptions and payments has become the new – and often burdensome – normal for consumers. Whether it’s keeping tabs on increasing costs or remembering all of the subscriptions you’ve signed up for, it’s clear that consumers need a better way to centralize and manage where their money goes – and partnering with Minna has allowed us to develop the tool to do just that. “Being first to market with new spend management tools is a key part of our ongoing mission to provide our customers with financial clarity, simplicity, and security. Our newest suite of spend tools are just the latest example of how Capital One is here for customers, making it easy and secure to spend with total confidence and the convenience of managing it all in one place.” Read more on the link below! 👇 Zofia Tanaka Navpreet Randhawa Mia Iwama Hastings David Beer Amanda Mesler Aparna Sarin Katie King (she/her) #minnatechnologies #capitalone #subscriptionmanagement #bankingapp #mobilebanking #subscriptioneconomy

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I have a big announcement to make.  In life, you back your winners. You back the people who exceed your expectations, exhibit a high level of integrity, energy, grit and give you as a leader leverage. Matthew Thompson is one of those special leaders, and today he is being promoted from GM of our public sector business to Chief Revenue Officer for all of Socure globally. Matt’s leadership at Socure has been transformative.  He has been at the forefront of our public sector business, leveraging his vast experience to build and scale our operations in an incredibly short period of time.  After only 2.5 years of serving the Fed and SLED Markets, Socure is now supporting 22 state agencies, 3 federal agencies, 1 Higher Ed Institution, and we’re in talks, pilots and integrations with dozens more.   On top of that, we’ve formalized 20+ meaningful strategic partnerships and already achieved several of the critical security and compliance milestones that are essential to doing business with the government. For anyone not familiar, that rate of growth is unheard of in the public sector. Matt’s commitment to excellence and putting in the extra effort that separates winners from the rest of the pack, has been nothing short of inspiring. He’s a tremendous motivator, communicator and possesses a rare sense of extreme ownership and accountability, something you want in every teammate. One of the most amazing things about Matt is his humility.  But he did share some numbers in a recent post that demonstrate the incredible transformations our team has created in the public sector under Matt’s leadership. 🔹 For one of our government customers, we were able to process 100% of applicants, with 95% being onboarded through auto-approval in less than one second. 🔹 For another agency, we showed them how using our solution would save their constituents more than 157,000 hours of time annually during digital onboarding 🔹 We replaced a bureau in another agency where we’ve demonstrated the ability to approve 24% more people that were otherwise being rejected while also stopping 82% in fraud losses that they were letting through 🔹 We are verifying almost 40% more 18 year olds than any competing solution on the market and verifying 92%+ of Gen Z constituents with almost 100% coverage of the US adult population I can’t wait to see what we will achieve together in Socure’s next stage of growth. Congrats Matthew Thompson! #identity #fraud #leadership https://lnkd.in/gpH8vDnX

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💸🏛️ Real-time payments are driving financial institutions to modernize. Tune in as Jessica Cheney unpacks the latest on adoption rates and collaboration between The Clearing House's RTP and FedNow's Instant Payments rail from the Federal Reserve. #InstantPayments #RealTimePayments #FinTech #ISO20022

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In the early days of founding a new startup, it can feel like you’re putting together a puzzle without a complete picture of what the puzzle looks like on the front of the box. 🧩🖼 Many wonder why you chose this particular problem to deeply understand and solution around. Some ask themselves whether you are out to take their lunch. Others go out of their way to lend a helping hand simply because they believe continuous innovation is necessary for banks and credit unions to keep up with the accelerating times in this digital-first world. 📲🚀 Lauren Culp, CUDE, Robbie Young, CUDE, Alyssa Angurio, MBA, and the fantastic CUInsight.com team fit into the last group. They have made it their mission to inform the industry of the latest innovations and top challenges to solve through Fintech partners. 📰🎉 Simran S. and I are extremely grateful to the CUInsight.com team for sharing Swaystack's Hello World 👋🏽 announcement. Thank you for all your efforts to make music out of the noise and bring light where there’s darkness in the FinTech industry. 🎶💡 If you have personally benefitted from the CUInsight.com team, tell us how and when! Now’s your chance to give thanks to the team that makes it all happen. 🎊🎇 For those who have yet to read the announcement of Swaystack's personalized engagement platform built to help banks and credit unions win preferred financial institution status and stay top of wallet, here it is: https://lnkd.in/eXqcdDgY #fintech #personalizedbanking #personalization #memberengagement #customerengagementplatform #creditunion #bank #swaystack #cuinsights #miami #banking #technology #digitalbanking #jackhenry #fiserv

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Socure made a huge impact for a top retail bank's customer onboarding process. By improving automatic identity verification rates and reducing fraud, Socure helped the bank approve thousands of new applicants and cut down operational expenses. Read more in our latest Impact Story!

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Today we're toasting Sedric's $18.5M Series A, led by Foundation Capital 🥂 Fintech compliance is unsexy, critical, and complex. The hidden backbone of financial innovation that can make or break a company. Sedric.ai is tackling compliance challenges head-on with the first compliance-dedicated LLM for financial institutions. Their platform empowers financial teams to automate workflows, streamline processes, and transform compliance from cost center to growth driver. Nir Laznik, Eyal Peleg, and team engineered a solution 100x faster and more efficient than traditional methods. It gives compliance officers x-ray vision across customer touchpoints with no manual slog required. Sedric's timing is spot-on with global compliance costs hitting $206 billion annually. They're already serving major US and European financial institutions with 5x revenue growth in the last 12 months. 📈 Congrats to the Sedric team, and cheers to my partner Nico Stainfeld for leading this deal!

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In discussion with bankers yesterday, experienced, medium-sized, bank-fintech partnership program leads agreed that the groundwork for a fintech-ready bank program costs $1MM-$2MM. Maybe. I bet that's light for what some spend (or should spend) to get off the ground. It's probably more like $3 million. Think about it. You have to prepare the tech (software engineers are expensive). You have to craft the policy & procedures. You need legal to help with agreements, and probably touch the policies and procedures, too. You have to conduct third party audits, likely on several dimensions of the operation. It makes sense, in some ways. Truth is, I think that this way of doing it is overkill. I bet you can do it for half of the low bid above - perhaps even less if you have motivated staff or in-house legal. But you would need Braid to eliminate the software lift while still giving you the keys to the car...

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A masterclass in positioning your start-up...

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Over the past two years, Integral Labs had the privilege of contributing to the creation of the Polkadot Community Foundation. Polkadot has already pioneered one of the most active and robust DAO governance systems to date, including tokenholder management of a nine-figure treasury. As the DAO continues to mature, the need to represent and serve tokenholders’ interests off-chain has become increasingly apparent. That’s where the Polkadot Community Foundation comes in. Designing the corporate structure, governance, and operating model, Integral Labs joined a working group led by our friends at Actum Node with a mission to extend the reach of Polkadot's onchain governance into the offchain world. This project was a first in the industry, with a novel design that stands apart from traditional DAO "wrapper" structures. Unlike foundations that subsume treasury assets and delegate limited powers back to the DAO, the Polkadot Community Foundation works as an optional, unopinionated side-car entity that any DAO member may utilize in their proposals. This ensures the DAO retains full autonomy and control of its treasury while enabling offchain activities such as holding real world assets, entering commercial agreements, making fiat payments, owning IP, and more—all for the benefit of, and under the explicit direction of, the tokenholders. The governing documents and bylaws are open source and available for future use by Polkadot or other DAOs. We hope is that this modular design becomes a blueprint for a future constellation of real-world businesses to permissionlessly cooperate and compete to serve DAOs by extending their existing onchain governance systems. The Polakdot community voted with over 98% support to establish the Polkadot Community Foundation. Now incorporated, community members have begun to publish treasury proposals that utilize the foundation, including the creation of what will be the first mobile app owned by an open community, and increasing accountability for vendors and service providers in the ecosystem. You can read more here: https://lnkd.in/ebCJKsjD Integral Labs is proud to have contributed to this project alongside Michael D'Alto of Actum Node, James Hutchings, ACA, CFA, Theo Louw, Michael Preston, and Kevin Foster-Archibald CA(SA) of Autonomous, Edward Noyons of Marfire, Matthew Shaw and Gregory Peacock of Webslinger Advisors, Glenn Kennedy of Leeward Management Limited, Jonathan Bain of Bridgestream, Ignatius N., Jonathan Hernandez, and David Manadom (formerly) of Fenwick & West, Melissa Lim and Justin Wretham of Walkers, Björn Wagner, Raul Ignacio Romanutti, Dieter Fishbein, and the Polkadot community.

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What is the disconnect between sales and finance? And is is lender AI-based loan decisioning the culprit? Or is it the reduction in lender pricing transparency? Or is it all this and more?? In the last installment of a four-part series on CBT News, I explore the core causes of disconnects between the sales and finance process, including the role new AI-based loan decisions are playing, as well as offering up an API roadmap to help bridge the gap! Connecting, rather than disconnecting, the flow of information is key to a mutually beneficial process for customer, dealer and lender. Read the full article here:  https://lnkd.in/gbvFUAxi #cardealers #cardealerships #connectedretailing #dealers #dealership #digitalretailing #digitalfinance #elendsolutions #innovation #autofinance #autolenders #carbuying #automotive #autoindustry

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