FIS announces the Cohort of Contemporary Fintechs for the 2022 Accelerator
The American financial company FIStogether with his partner The venture centrehas announced the 10 fintech companies that will participate in the fintech accelerator program for 2022.
Now in its seventh year, the accelerator champions the development of new technologies and gives growing fintechs valuable access to guidance, training and investment to develop their solutions.
The programme, which will run for 12 weeks, is focused on identifying and promoting financial technology start-ups with promising, high-potential technologies that advance the way the world pays, banks and invests.
Previous graduates of the program 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 “People’s Choice” award for its financial wellness gaming solution that rewards bank customers 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 candidates from last year’s accelerator.
The 2022 program has now formally closed the application process, with interest from various fintech companies in the US and from around the world.
When comparing the accelerator from year to year, it is unusual that only 30 percent of the cohort this year also consists of fintechs founded by women. Although it is impossible that this has been a conscious and deliberate decision on FIS’s part, the convincingly low number of female-founded companies in this year’s cohort is surprising given the promising increase in gender equality in the industry this year.
That said, the 10 selected companies and their technologies include:
- Connect to earth – Green environmental impact bank
- Equipment – Buy now, pay later
- Neural payments – P2P (peer-to-peer) payments
- Nickel – Credit card debt management for financial wellness
- Privacy lock – Automation of privacy
- Sardine – ACH money movement and cryptocurrency risk management
- Sygno – Monitoring of fraudulent transactions
- Editable – Cloud-based compliance
- Press check – Earned wage access for employees’ financial well-being
- Themis – Solutions for regulatory compliance
“We are 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 Duffhead of FIS Impact Ventures fintech advocacy.
The group has been composed of many of the leading themes and technologies in 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 August 15, to be held at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock Arkansas. A video recording of the showcase will be available after the event.
“Arkansas is globally recognized as a financial technology center. Fintech was created here, and with programs 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 advanced technologies and provide better opportunities for customers. As we enter our seventh year of collaboration with the Venture Center and FIS, Arkansas looks forward to hosting the next batch of minds that will stir the balls of innovation, Hutchinson added.
The 2022 program will culminate with a demo day on November 9, 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 get a pre-accelerator insight into the agenda of a FIS Demo Day with a summary of last year’s event below:
“Our work with FIS is more important than ever as digital transformation continues to revolutionize everything we do,” said Wayne Millermanaging director of FIS’s partner The Venture Center.
“This year’s cohort demonstrates what fintech partnerships are all about, and the program is sure to be elevated as we work with the President of FIS Impact Ventures, Rob Leeand his team, whose dedication to fintech advocacy, diversity and inclusion is perfectly aligned with our own goal of creating meaningful impact.”
The innovation that the accelerator seeks to produce aims to drive purpose within the wider market application. Late last month, the company introduced its latest five chargeback and dispute avoidance products, in an effort to tackle the $100 billion chargeback problem in the payments industry.
Designed for merchants, the products are integrated into a Disputes Deflector, providing an open platform that merchants can use to connect the fraud management tools of service providers.
The company’s results for the second quarter of 2022 also suggest the upward trajectory for the services. According to the results:
“On a GAAP basis, revenue increased approximately $240 million, or seven percent compared to the same period last year, to $3.7 billion. Net income attributable to common stockholders was $277 million or $0.45 per diluted share.
“On an organic basis, turnover increased by eight percent compared to the same period last year when you exclude the impact of changes in exchange rates and the inorganic contribution from acquisitions and sales. On a constant currency basis, revenues increased by nine percent. Adjusted net earnings increased five percent compared to the same period last year to $1.1 billion, and adjusted net earnings per share increased seven percent to $1.73 per diluted share.’
Talking with Fintech Times at this year’s Fintech Week London, Silvia Mensdorff-Pouilly discussed how FIS encouraged and used new forms of innovation to build a fintech that works for everyone:
