This week's edition of Finovate Global looks at recent fintech headlines from the Eastern European nations of Bulgaria, Albania, and Hungary.
Bulgarian Fintech Paypercut Raises €5M
Paypercut, a fintech based in Sofia, Bulgaria, has secured €5 million in seed funding. The round was co-led by Concentric, Passion Capital, and Araya Ventures, and featured participation from additional investors including SMOK Ventures, Portfolio Ventures, BrightCap Ventures, BlackWood, SABAH.fund,...
- Cash App launched Cash App Tags, NFC-enabled, payment “accessories” that let customers pay without their phone or card.
- The first of these new tags comes in the form of a wand, but the company said that other form factors will be available in the future.
- While payments companies have tried and failed to move the payments form factor from cards and phones, the wands may succeed because they are visible, social, and impossible to ignore.
- Digital financial services software company Finastra unveiled its new analytics solution for lenders this week, Data Insights 2.0.
- Available for Finastra's mortgage origination solution, Originate Mortgagebot, Data Insights 2.0 gives lenders a comprehensive view of the borrower journey through the application process to identify areas of friction and applicant drop-off.
- Finastra was formed via a merger between Finovate alum Misys and D+H in 2017. Chris Walters is CEO.
A new...
As financial institutions increasingly deploy AI across customer service channels, many are wondering where they should start.
At FinovateSpring in San Diego earlier this year, I spoke with Cresta Director of Customer Success Stacy Osorio about how banks, credit unions, and fintechs should think about customer experience, contact center transformation, and AI-driven automation.
One of the biggest opportunities, Osorio explained, is not simply using AI to reduce costs, but leveraging...
- Ramp raised $750 million at a $44 billion valuation as it expands beyond corporate cards and expense management.
- The company is betting AI token spend will become a major business cost category requiring new financial infrastructure.
- Ramp launched Stack, an AI-native accounting platform, as it pushes deeper into automation, accounting, and enterprise finance.
Corporate card and expense management platform Ramp is on a roll this week. In addition to launching Stack, an...
