Finovate ventures beyond banking, payments

InterGen Data’s demo at Finovate was recently mentioned in The Green Sheet. A copy of the original article “Finovate ventures beyond banking, payments” by Dale Laszig can be found http://www.greensheet.com/breakingnews.php?article_id=2299.

Finovate returned to New York City on Sept. 23 to 25, 2019, drawing approximately 5,000 attendees and a diverse group of global fintech experts. Industry leaders from such areas as insurance, compliance, security, blockchain, cryptocurrency, lending and wealth management took to the stage at the Marriott Marquis, presenting products and services in tightly scripted, seven-minute demonstrations.

Launched in 2007, the Finovate conference series has evolved beyond banking and payments into a comprehensive panoply of financial products and services, according to event organizers. “Finovate debuted in New York, added a Bay Area event in 2008 and expanded internationally to London in 2011, Asia in 2012 and Dubai and Cape Town in 2018,” they wrote. “For close to a decade, the events have attracted tens of thousands of attendees who have watched more than 2,000 demos & presentations from hundreds of companies.”

Robert J. Kirk, founder and CEO at InterGen Data emphasized several benefits of attending the show. “From a networking and business development perspective, this has been one of the best conferences that I have attended in the past few years. It would not be easy for any company to meet with this many open-minded decision-makers in a single year; the sheer number of qualified opportunities in an event like this is tremendous.”

Travis Dulaney, CEO and founder of PayFi, called the venue a machine that fintechs can plug in to attract potential clients, partners and investors. “Not many shows feature live demonstrations on a big stage,” he said. “People get to see how much you’ve actually done.”

Predictive AI

More than 70 firms approached Kirk following his predictive AI demonstration, which showed how technology helped him prepare for life-changing events. “Half the people who came up to me stated that they emotionally connected with me and my situation [a grandfather’s recent passage and wife’s cancer diagnosis],” he said. “Many had experienced similar situations and want to help their clients.”

Tina Powell, marketing manager at InterGen Data, agreed Kirk’s on-stage demo resonated with audience members. “Not only was the booth filled with people who had questions about InterGen Data, but our Twitter feed was lighting up as well,” she said. “A leading fintech evangelist said it was the best life insurance and financial planning demo he had ever seen at Finovate.”

Predictive models are the wave of the future, Powell noted, especially in financial services where personalized advice and recommendations shift with every life event. “Identifying when clients are likely to have an important life event occur, what it could be, and how much of a financial impact that it could make, will shape the entire health and well-being of our world,” she said.

Real-time payments

Dulaney pointed out that PayFi moved money in its demo by using the company’s RailStorm API to move funds between bank accounts. The AI-based payment platform and end-to-end payment solution includes client onboarding, marketplace and processing capabilities, he explained. The company works with financial institutions, fintech companies and platforms, including two strategic partners that also demonstrated at FinovateFall: Linked2Pay and BuckZ Payments Inc.

“Linked2Pay did three different live demos, including instant merchant settlement on stage, and BuckZ demonstrated a cross-border payments ecosystem that allows you to transfer and receive money in real time,” Dulaney said. “Real-time payments are speeding commerce, increasing consumer spend and collapsing the window that allows fraud to happen.”

Delivering funds immediately, securely and efficiently is good for the economy, Dulaney noted, adding that faster income means faster spend: people can quickly pay a bill or go to dinner. “We speed commerce when people don’t have to wait for things,” he said. “We’re not only selling speed; we’re selling time.”

Diversified ecosystem

As he reflected on the conference, Kirk said he expects conversations that began at Finovate to continue long after the conference. “Finovate attracts fintech leaders of all kinds, including angels, founders, VCs, journalists, developers and potential JV partners,” he said.

Dulaney pointed out that product demos are more sophisticated and nuanced for companies that work with open APIs. It’s no longer a simple proposition of “here it is and here’s how it works,” he stated, but more of a layered technology approach involving multiple tools and interfaces.

Noting that fintech applications can take years to perfect and substantial investments of time and money to develop, Kirk advised Finovate applicants to rehearse, test and consult with a legal professional regarding their IP. “It may be wise to file a patent, as InterGen Data did, as a measure to protect certain types of intellectual property,” he said.

Have a clear understanding of the types of problems your technology addresses and how it may be applied in various scenarios, Kirk said. Understanding where product market fit aligns best is key to the entire Finovate experience, he added.