The American financial services company FIS, alongside its partner The Venture Center, has announced the 10 fintech companies that will be participating in its fintech accelerator programme for 2022.
Now in its seventh year, the accelerator champions the evolution of new technologies and provides growing fintechs with valuable access to mentoring, training and investment to develop their solutions.
The programme, which will run for 12 weeks, is focused on identifying and fostering startup financial technology firms with promising, high-potential technologies that advance the way the world pays, banks and invests.
Previous graduates of the programme have gone on to secure additional capital funding, win industry awards, and form partnerships with FIS to bring their innovations to market.
Last year, accelerator participant Long Game won the ‘audience choice’ award for its financial wellness game solution that rewards banking consumers for saving money and Tax Status won the ‘most valuable participant’ award for its authentication/lending solution that provides one-click access to tax documents and credit scores.
Currently, FIS is integrating technology or actively working with nine of the 10 graduates from last year’s accelerator.
The 2022 programme has now formally concluded its application process, with interest from various fintech companies in the US and from around the world.
When comparing the accelerator year-on-year, it’s unusual that again this year, only 30 per cent of the cohort is comprised of fintechs founded by women. Although it’s impossible for this to have been a conscious and deliberate decision on FIS’ part, the compellingly low number of female-founded companies within this year’s cohort is surprising given the promising rise of gender equality in the industry this year.
With this being said, the 10 chosen companies and their technologies include:
- Connect Earth – Green environmental impact banking
- Equipifi – Buy now pay later
- Neural Payments – P2P (peer-to-peer) payments
- Nickels – Credit card debt management for financial wellness
- Privacy Lock – Data privacy automation
- Sardine – ACH money movement and crypto currency risk management
- Sygno – Fraud transaction monitoring
- Redactable – Cloud-based compliance
- Tapcheck – Earned wage access for employee financial wellness
- Themis – Regulatory compliance solutions
“We’re thrilled to have these ten companies on board to explore their ideas and technologies while providing them with incredible tools and resources to build their businesses,” said Elaine Duff, head of FIS Impact Ventures fintech advocacy.
The group has been comprised of many of the leading topics and technologies within fintech, including the rise of cloud-based infrastructure, BNPL, ESG and ethical banking and fraud prevention.
FIS has invited the public to learn more about its 2022 cohort at the VenCent Fintech Summit on 15 August, which is to be held at the Statehouse Convention Centre in Little Rock Arkansas. A video recording of the showcase will be available after the event.
“Arkansas is globally recognided as a financial technology centre. Fintech was created here, and with programmes like the FIS fintech accelerator we continue to drive innovation,” said governor Asa Hutchinson.
“The future is coming, so banking and finance must evolve to meet the advancing technologies and provide better opportunities for customers. As we enter our seventh year partnering with Venture Center and FIS, Arkansas looks forward to hosting the next group of minds who will stir the coals of innovation,” added Hutchinson.
The 2022 programme will culminate with a Demo Day on 9 November, when leaders from each of the participating firms will showcase their innovations to financial services leaders and influencers, potential investors and successful entrepreneurs.
Although the event was held virtually last year due to the restrictions posed by the pandemic, readers can gain a pre-accelerator insight into the agenda of a FIS Demo Day with a recap of last year’s event below:
“Our work with FIS is more important than ever as digital transformation continues to revolutionise everything we do,” said Wayne Miller, executive director of FIS’ partner The Venture Center.
“This year’s cohort demonstrates what fintech partnership is all about, and the programme is certain to be elevated as we work with the president of FIS Impact Ventures, Rob Lee, and his team, whose dedication to fintech advocacy, diversity and inclusion is perfectly aligned with our own goal to drive meaningful impact.”
The innovation that the accelerator seeks to produce aims to drive purpose within its wider market application. At the end of last month, the company introduced its five latest chargeback and dispute avoidance products, in an effort to tackle the $100billion problem of chargebacks in the payments industry.
Designed for merchants, the products are integrated within a Disputes Deflector, providing an open platform that merchants can use to connect with the fraud management tools of service providers.
The company’s Q2 2022 results also suggest the upwards trajectory of its services. According to the results:
‘On a GAAP basis, revenue increased by approximately $240million, or seven per cent as compared to the prior-year period, to $3.7billion. Net earnings attributable to common stockholders were $277million or $0.45 per diluted share.
‘On an organic basis, revenue increased eight per cent as compared to the prior-year period when excluding the impact of changes in foreign currency exchange rates and inorganic contribution from acquisitions and divestitures. On a constant currency basis, revenue increased nine per cent. Adjusted net earnings increased five per cent as compared to the prior-year period to $1.1billion, and adjusted net earnings per share increased seven per cent to $1.73 per diluted share.’
Speaking with The Fintech Times at this year’s Fintech Week London, Silvia Mensdorff-Pouilly discussed how FIS was encouraging and applying new forms of innovation to build a fintech that works for everyone:
