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Nova Credit Appoints Nichole Mustard to Its Board of Directors

BusinessWire — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 19:00:57 +0000

Nova Credit, the credit infrastructure and analytics company that enables businesses to grow responsibly with alternative credit data, has announced the appointment of Nichole Mustard, co-founder and former Chief Revenue Officer of Credit Karma, to its board of directors.

Having co-founded Credit Karma, one of the leading credit insights providers, Nichole is an industry titan, whose work in scaling the company gave it a platform to provide millions of Americans with a deeper understanding of their credit through a seamless product. Nichole’s invaluable experience in enabling credit access for millions of Americans in the digital age has given her a front-row seat to the technological and data advancements that have drastically impacted consumer lending decisions.

“We are undergoing a paradigm shift in credit underwriting, with new data, regulations, and technology fostering unprecedented opportunity. Capitalizing on these opportunities demands a fresh perspective with demonstrated expertise in consumer credit,” said Misha Esipov, Nova Credit Co-Founder and CEO. “I could not be more excited to welcome Nichole to our board. Bringing her experience in co-founding and scaling Credit Karma into the iconic company that it is a dream come true. Nichole’s passion and deep expertise throughout the credit ecosystem will not only be instrumental in scaling our business, but also in accelerating our mission of creating a more fair and inclusive financial system for the world.”

Nichole will help guide the company’s strategy to enable responsible business growth and insights for its clients by harnessing the power of consumer credit data, helping expand credit access in the process. This will be especially true as Nova Credit looks to advance the impactful deployment and applications of cash flow and income data across the underwriting journey.

“As open banking gains traction from regulators and from lenders looking to expand their underwriting analytics beyond the traditional credit system, Nova Credit is pioneering technological solutions that leverage data to tell a richer story for millions of misunderstood credit applicants,” said Nichole. “The company and its team are poised to create a more navigable credit system for both consumers and the businesses that serve them, and I couldn’t be more excited to contribute to its mission.”

Nichole co-founded Credit Karma in 2007 and served as Chief Revenue Officer. Previously, she was a financial services sales director at Compete, which was acquired by TNS Media. She holds a Doctorate degree from Miami University.

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BitOasis Taps Sumsub for Identity Verification and Crypto Compliance

PRNewswire — Wed, 15 May 2024 15:00:40 +0000

Sumsub, a full-cycle verification platform providing customizable KYC, KYB, transaction monitoring, and AML solutions for the whole customer journey, is pleased to announce a new collaboration with BitOasis, the largest and most trusted cryptocurrency platform in the MENA region.

BitOasis has chosen Sumsub for crypto identity verification and AML screening for crypto compliance. Since its launch in 2016, as a regulation-first company, BitOasis has maintained a firm focus on its mission of providing retail and institutional users from the region a safe, compliant, and convenient way to buy, sell and hold over 60 cryptocurrencies. BitOasis was the first Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) to register with the UAE’s Financial Intelligence Unit in 2021, and was amongst the first companies to secure a provisional operating permit from Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) after the regulator’s establishment in early 2022. Having recently reopened its platform to new retail and institutional users, this partnership with Sumsub will enable BitOasis to further enhance its user onboarding process while ensuring full compliance with strict AML and other regulatory requirements.

“We are excited to start working with Sumsub, a global leader in verification, anti-fraud and compliance. Sumsub will enable us to further strengthen the stringent controls we use to protect our users and ecosystem from illicit activities and support us in ensuring continued full compliance with evolving AML regulations. By implementing Sumsub’s KYC and AML Screening solutions, we make sure to provide the best user experience to our customers in the Middle East and beyond,” says Stanford Cardoz, AML Director at BitOasis.

“We are thrilled about our collaboration with BitOasis, a leading crypto platform in the Middle East,” comments Peter Sever, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Sumsub. “We are proud to join BitOasis’ mission of building infrastructure for a new digital financial system based on cryptocurrencies, a system that is transparent, inclusive, compliant and secure.”

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Fintech’s Role in Shaping the Future of CBDCs in APAC

FTB News Desk — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 13:00:51 +0000

1. Dawn of CBDC: How CBDC Initiated in APAC
2. Role of Fintech in Driving CBDC
3. The Evolving Landscape of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)
4. Financial Inclusion
Conclusion

Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) have emerged as a remarkable innovation in finance, providing a digital translation of the fiat currency of a country. Across the region of APAC, both CBDC uptake and development have been driven by the combination of technology and changing financial systems.

1. Dawn of CBDC: How CBDC Initiated in APAC
APAC countries demonstrated the important role of the leader by developing the CBDC pilot projects and carrying out the research projects. As a matter of fact, one of China’s most outstanding projects is DCEP, or the China Digital Yuan Project, which is taking the lead in this zone. In the year 2020, the People’s Bank of China [PBOC] revealed the DCEP to modernize the payment system, make more people financially included, and grant more control over monetary policy.
Furthermore, other Southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, have started their own CDBC projects, which are also technology-efficient, transparent, and financially inclusive.

2. Role of Fintech in Driving CBDC
Fintech companies are the ones driving the development and adoption of CBDCs in APAC. These organizations are utilizing blockchain, distributed ledger technology (DLT), and advanced digital identity technologies to make CBDCs user-friendly and inclusive.
One of the significant achievements of fintech in terms of CBDC will be the creation of robust, innovative payment structures and solutions. The relationships between financial firms and central banks aim at developing user-centered digital wallets and digital payment platforms that support instantaneous transactions using digital currency. With the use of fintech capabilities, central banks are able to address the scalability, security, and interconnectivity dimensions of CBDCs within different financial systems.
Additionally, fintechs play a significant role in providing solutions for the motor and compliance issues that apply to CBDCs. They help central banks strengthen Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) policies, including those that eliminate the source of illicit activities and maintain a secure financial system.

3. The Evolving Landscape of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)
The CBDC’s landscape in APAC is currently in a state of transformation in line with emerging breakthroughs in technology, regulatory mechanisms, and market mechanisms. With the central banks still tinkering with various CBDC models and applications, the possibilities of digital currencies going beyond regular payments are becoming more obvious.
Another trend emerging is the examination of prototype CBDCs that can be programmed to perform smart contracts and automatic transactions. This innovation will be able to bring a fundamental change to supply chain management, trade finance, and even decentralized finance (DeFi).
Furthermore, seamless connectivity among borders is gradually emerging as a distinct aspect of CBDC development in the APAC region. Fintech proves to be an effective tool for these objectives through smoother cross-border transactions and the integration of different CBDCs, which strengthens international trade and financial integration.

4. Financial Inclusion
CBDCs offer many complaints about achieving the goal of financial inclusion by making offline banking services accessible to the unserved people in the APAC region. Fintech start-ups are harnessing the freedom provided by mobile technology and digital systems to encompass unbanked people and thereby make their lives convenient and prone to the digital economy.
Blockchain-based cryptocurrencies help with the offering of affordable and accessible payment options that enable even financially excluded individuals and small businesses to attend loan issuance, save, and participate in the economy. Digital startups that incorporate fintech technologies such as mobile wallets and peer-to-peer lending platforms have been able to bring the unbanked population into conventional banking services. They are therefore helping to stimulate an inclusive financial sector.

Conclusion
The technologies innovating fintech are catalyzing the appearance of CBDCs in the APAC region, which will be the future trend of digital currencies, and thus the financial map will be reconstructed. Through collaboration with fintech institutions, central banks can convert the potential of CBDCs into better efficiencies, transparency, and more inclusiveness in the financial sphere. With the growth of CBDC adoption, collaboration among fintech companies, regulators, and banks will be very imperative to the economies of the region in the process of realizing the benefits of digital currencies.

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FinTech Interview with Gary M. Shiffman, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Consilient

FTB News Desk — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 13:12:10 +0000

Discover combating money laundering and financial crime tips in an exclusive interview with, Gary M. Shiffman, CEO and Co-Founder at Consilient

Gary M. Shiffman Ph.D. Co-Founder & CEO

Kindly brief us about yourself and your journey as the Founder and CEO of Consilient?
I began my career in the military – I went to war and traveled around the world. During this time, I was able to observe the best and worst qualities of humans. Largely because of this experience, I dedicated my career to battling human suffering, coercion and violence. Ultimately this is why I co-founded Consilient – I want to use AI to combat suffering, violence and coercion. During my career I have also served in national security roles with the U.S. Senate and the Department of Homeland Security, and I hold a doctorate in economics.

Can you tell us more about Consilient and its mission to transform the prevention of financial crime? What inspired you and Juan Zarate to start this venture?
We believed that the financial industry’s approach to financial crime prevention needed to be turned on its head. That with technology being implemented, we weren’t making the step change that was needed. We believed that there was a way to make the industry dramatically more effective and efficient. We were inspired by the potential of a subset of AI called Federated Learning (FL) to enable people, financial institutions, and law enforcement to collaborate and reduce the severity of financial crime. Most systems used to detect these crimes are outdated and we want to change that.

The current methods of fighting money laundering and financial crime are often considered outdated and ineffective. How does Consilient address these challenges?
Over the decades, financial institutions have used rules-based systems to detect money laundering. Criminals know this and take some simple steps to defeat these systems. So, we see a situation where banks and other financial institutions spend an enormous amount of money on operations, systems, people and compliance, but few criminals are actually arrested. This is the definition of inefficiency.

Consilient changes this calculus by being risk-based rather than forensic-based. Consilient says “These are the behaviors that lead to financial crime” rather than looking at data after-the-fact. Key to this is that Consilient is collaborative – no data is shared between organizations so customer privacy is absolutely protected, and regulations are not violated. This sharing can occur between financial institutions, law enforcement and regulators, and they all become better for it. The important thing is because FL doesn’t touch the data in any way, this becomes an extraordinarily efficient way to share industry insights.

What motivated Consilient to focus on developing a federated learning solution specifically for financial crime detection? What advantages does federated learning offer in this domain compared to other approaches?
At various stages in my career, I would collaborate with officials around the world. This made me and them more effective and was frankly an indispensable way we did our work. In the financial sector, it is frustrating to see a lack of collaboration lead to the commission of financial crimes. So, while I understand machine learning had a role to play, my goal was to combine this with collaboration and use FL to inspire sharing across financial institutions where there currently is none. We can do it because our solution means that the data never moves and stays at each organization, thus we don’t violate privacy regulations.

Sharing data between institutions, regulators, and jurisdictions can be a complex and sensitive process. How does Consilient overcome these challenges to facilitate the sharing of behavioral insights without compromising data security and privacy?
Our solution means that data never moves: the actual data is never shared. Since sharing data comes with enormous implications under the current regulatory environment, knew that this approach would be incredibly challenging for the industry and organizations. Consilient uses FL to enable collaboration without sharing data. Instead of centralizing data in a data lake, like some efforts have attempted to do, we move the analytics to the data – this enables us to “look” at the data without actually touching it. This lets us detect money laundering activity based on behaviors, rather than moving the data somewhere for traditional analysis.

In your opinion, what are the key advantages and benefits of using Consilient’s federated learning solution compared to traditional approaches to anti-money laundering and financial crime prevention?
Federated Learning causes massive improvements in accuracy (efficiency and effectiveness combined), enables collaboration and preserves privacy. Organizations currently are limited by what they can see in their own data and they are limited by not having enough nuanced data to build really accurate models. This is often why heuristic rules do not evolve. FL enables organizations to deploy the most precise and accurate models that continuously evolve as money laundering evolves. It enables organizations to pin-point specific behavioral risks and, most importantly, dramatically improves efficiency and effectiveness. All of this solves big problems for financial institutions in detecting financial crimes.

Efficiency is a key aspect in combating financial crime, as time is often of the essence. How does Consilient’s solution improve efficiency in risk management and the detection of financial crimes? Are there any specific features or functionalities that contribute to this efficiency gain?
Our suite of FL models are built according to what the institution is trying to find, and their worth is tied to their effectiveness in recognizing patterns. The more you evolve your FL models, efficiency is found through less work for the same outcomes. Because of this, our data shows a 75% improvement over existing approaches.

Can you share any success stories or case studies where Consilient’s solution has successfully addressed the challenges of risk, privacy, existing detection methods, coverage, or efficiency?
Consilient deployed to a large bank to address third-party risk. As I mentioned earlier, banks typically use rules-based systems to address this risk. The bank didn’t have enough data to build an effective model. From this deployment, the bank’s third-party risk process was 78% more efficient and it detected 608% more “suspicious events.”

What advice would you give to other technology leaders and entrepreneurs considering moving into the fintech industry, as you have?
Entrepreneurs and technology people need to understand that professionals in financial institution compliance and risk departments are thoughtful and deliberate. Entrepreneurs typically want to move quickly – but they need to understand that this industry moves deliberately and thoughtfully, which might be slower than they’re used to. So, patience is important, and ensuring that solutions are not just a ‘me too’ product but really are unique and are value creating for clients.

As the CEO of Consilient, what are your future plans and goals for the company? How do you envision Consilient’s role in shaping the future of anti-money laundering and financial crime prevention?
Consilient is the first FL platform for financial crime compliance – which includes fraud, anti-money laundering and sanctions/export controls. This FL approach is going to change the fight against financial crime. Because of this, our vision is to be the foundational technology globally, to combat financial crime and protect
the financial system. Our mission is to have Consilient transform the global financial system.

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C3 Completes $6M Seed Round with Two Sigma Ventures

GlobeNewswire — Mon, 13 Feb 2023 18:00:49 +0000

C3, a next-generation self-custodial exchange, today announced a $6 million seed funding round led by Two Sigma Ventures, the venture capital arm of New York-based quantitative hedge fund, Two Sigma. Jane Street, Hudson River Trading, Flow Traders, Jump, DRW’s Cumberland, Golden Tree, CMS Holdings, AlphaLab Capital, and C² Ventures also participated in the round.

C3 is a decentralized cryptocurrency exchange designed to bring the digital asset industry in closer alignment with the original vision of an open and trustless financial system, offering a self-custodial platform that is as performant and accessible as centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. Crypto and blockchain technology emerged as a system promising transparency, security, and true ownership, while seeking to avoid past failures of traditional finance. However, the current state of the market has strayed from these principles – the past year revealed crypto’s massive problem with opacity of its market structure from the collapse of major exchanges to the insolvency of yield platforms.

“In the wake of this heightened uncertainty and anxiety, there is an opportunity for new entrants to build a more reliable, self-custodial approach to trading leveraging the fundamental innovations of blockchain technology,” said Michel Dahdah, co-founder of C3. “It is clear that the current market structure of cryptocurrency assets is far from where it needs to be to onboard billions of users, let alone completely replace traditional financial markets.”

With C3’s unique self-custodial model, traders can employ a trustless way to trade cryptocurrencies, while avoiding many of the insolvency risks that crippled the crypto space. The platform gives investors the freedom to choose how they want to custody their funds, either through a wide range of non-custodial wallets covering multiple blockchains or by using their preferred custodian. This is a major differentiator from traditional exchange platforms, which safeguard user assets in-house, leaving traders with unknown counterparty risks.

“For many years, we saw the bundling of many services (e.g., custody, settlement, lending, etc.) into a handful of centralized intermediaries. In the years to come, we believe the crypto market structure will begin to look like many TradFi analogs, in that customer’s funds will sit in siloes where the owners prefer, and critical market functions will be segregated across many separate providers,” said Andy Kangpan, principal at Two Sigma Ventures. “C3 represents a major step in this direction by offering a clear separation of custody from exchange, without traders having to sacrifice on performance or pricing.”

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Ramp Announces Availability of Off-Ramp Following FCA Approval

GlobeNewswire — Wed, 08 Feb 2023 18:00:13 +0000

Ramp, a financial technology company that builds payment rails connecting crypto to the global financial system, has announced the global availability of off-ramp, a software product enabling businesses to offer their customers a fast, secure and convenient way to sell cryptocurrencies.

While Ramp’s on-ramp product – registered with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in 2021 – allows users to buy cryptocurrencies from traditional currencies, its new off-ramp product empowers users to transfer their digital assets back into fiat currency.

The product launch and FCA approval come shortly after Ramp’s $70m Series B fundraise and, already, several leading Web3 companies have committed to integrating off-ramp, including Brave, Ledger, and Trust Wallet.

Thanks to off-ramp being approved by one of the world’s leading financial regulators, the FCA, customers in more than 130 countries can exchange from any of 38 cryptocurrencies into US Dollars, Euros, and British Pounds. Companies who integrate Ramp can now enable their end users the option to sell coins natively, within their application.

“We’re incredibly proud not just to have delivered a game-changing product that is user-friendly, fast, and accessible for everyone in the world, but also to be granted FCA approval. To obtain and maintain our FCA registration, we must meet and operate within their strict anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards. This is a huge achievement for us, as compliance is a cornerstone of our business and what we stand for,” said Paulina Jóśków, head of commercial at Ramp.

In the US, consumers can process their transactions through automated clearing house (ACH) transfers, a common method used for direct deposits of paychecks, debts for regular payments, and money transfers. Users whose banks support Real-Time Payments (RTPs) will benefit from near-instant payouts, which will see dollars deposited into their accounts typically within seconds.

Ramp is offering an unmatched array of options for payouts to ensure users from all over the globe are catered to. In regions supported by Ramp outside the US, including the UK and EEA, off-ramp payment to cards is supported by major global credit and debit card providers. Moreover, holders of Fast Funds scheme-enabled cards can receive their funds in minutes.

Without a resilient off-ramp, Web3 projects would have to direct users to go to exchanges to sell their cryptocurrencies, which means higher friction and lower trust. Ramp enables its partners to allow their users to sell digital assets directly within their application.

Partner quotes:

“Brave is expanding its partnership with Ramp to offer new opportunities for our more than 55 million monthly active users. Ramp offers an essential service with off-ramp, which will soon allow Brave Wallet users to enjoy a seamless journey in and out of Web3,” said Brian Bondy, co-founder and CTO at Brave.

“At Trust Wallet, we always see on-ramps and off-ramps as critical capabilities for reaching a larger user base and significantly increasing cryptocurrency mass adoption. Ramp has been an important partner in establishing a reliable channel between fiat and cryptocurrency, and we’re thrilled to continue working together to bridge the gap between the traditional financial systems and the crypto world,” said Eowyn Chen, CEO at Trust Wallet.

“This year Ledger is focused on pairing ease of use with our uncompromising and unmatched security. To bring more people into the ecosystem and enable them to self-custody, we must have secure on-ramp and off-ramp options – that’s why we’re proud to continue supporting Ramp on Ledger Live, the most secure way to use Ramp’s services. Now the millions of Ledger users, and the continuous stream of new users opting for Ledger’s secure hardware every day, can take advantage of the comprehensive flow offered by Ramp through Ledger Live,” said Ian Rogers, Chief Experience Officer at Ledger.

Investor quotes:

“Since we led Ramp’s Series A last year, we have been impressed by the company’s technical product innovation, deep understanding of the market, and stringent focus on compliance and regulation. Ramp’s off-ramp product is market leading across many criteria and we’re looking forward to the global roll-out,” said Rana Yared, General Partner at Balderton Capital.

“Ramp has established a clear strong lead in the crypto gaming space by delivering a superior user experience, leading conversion rates and strong regulatory compliance. We’re deeply impressed with the company’s team and growth trajectory and we’re thrilled to continue supporting the management in its vision to make web3 easier to access,” said Frederic Lardieg at Mubadala Capital Ventures.

“Web3 needs a strong, compliant and easy-to-use on-and-off-ramping solution to enable the onboarding of the next wave of mass market users and we believe Ramp can play a decisive role in the space with the potential to become a key infrastructure globally. Korelya will be supporting the team in its Asian expansion, one of the largest markets for web3 applications,” said Paul Degueuse, partner at Korelya Capital.

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