Converge

Fraud feels like one of the inevitabilities of our financial system - if we had a system that was 100% fraud free, it would be so restrictive and buttoned down that it would be almost impossible to use.  And because we still rely on many antiquated systems to confirm the identity of customers, fraud continues to be a major problem.   Passwords persist as the dominant auth method despite their fragility, and newer, more promising auth methods like Passkeys championed by the FIDO alliance for a few years now are just beginning to take foot. WebAuthentication has added a lot of rigor to the security mix with biometrics, multi-factor, multi-device methods – but there are still gaps, and maintaining a customer-centric UX has been a crucial challenge to solve.  Enter knowledge-based authentication (KBA). Hear from Alloy CTO and co-founder Charles Hearn on how KBA integrates with diverse data sources, leverages AI and stays "a few step ahead" to provide accurate identity verification in financial services - one of the industry's most stubborn challenges. Disclaimer: Converge is Convera’s new podcast that discusses a range of financial services topics. We want to remind our listeners that the information shared on this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Please note that the opinions expressed on Converge are solely the opinions of the host and the guests, not Convera’s.

This past week, in a rare mainstream media appearance, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell joined 60 Minutes and within that time sent expectations for a US March rate cut plunging. Regardless, major global financial markets are broadly looking for around the same moves over the next 18 months – about 200 basis points of cuts. Yet not all conditions are moving in parallel, and while wages are easing lower in the US, they continue to press higher in Europe and the UK. If some central banks cut as other stay on hold, this could drive some big moves in the form of more volatility. Tune in for Head of Market Insights Steven Dooley's always insightful breakdown of the current state of our global markets on this week's Converge Market Update.

Venture capital investors in the fintech industry are facing challenges due to uncertain future ROI and reduced valuations. Valuations have shifted from art to science, requiring startups to understand what VCs are solving for. The podcast explores the innovations in fintech catching the attention of next-gen investors and discusses the current VC environment. The speaker shares their passion for B2B space innovations and their efforts to bring more female founders into fintech.

January has been all about the broad pushback of policy makers and the economic data against the trend of lower bond yields that started in November. Central bankers have won the first round against investors that had hoped to see the first rate cuts from the Fed, ECB and BoE already in March. However, the month-to-date advance of bond yields and the US dollar have not been able to dent the attractiveness of US equities, which continued to outperform their global peers, reaching a new all-time high this week. At the same time, China is nearing a watershed moment, as policy makers are starting to get uncomfortable with the 40% drawdown in Chinese equities. Are we getting closer to the peak of US outperformance vs. Europe and China?   Join Convera Macro Analyst Boris Kovacevic as he breaks down the latest in global markets.

Erica Dorfman, Head of Financial Products for spend management platform, discusses the strategy behind using AI and the latest tech to streamline company spend and expense management. They explore the challenges and solutions for global expansion in fintech, the evolution of Brex's customer base, and the innovation and challenges in CFOs' job of spend management.

It's been a year already! Join Convera Macro Analyst Boris Kovacevic for the first episode of the year as we re-cap 2023 and deep-dive into potential market and macro risks for the year ahead, covering geopolitics, inflation, central banking, Germany, China and global FX outlooks. Disclaimer: Converge is Convera’s new podcast that discusses a range of financial services topics. We want to remind our listeners that the information shared on this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Please note that the opinions expressed on Converge are solely the opinions of the host and the guests, not Convera’s.

Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and the concept of Environmental, Social & Governance investing (or ESG) is at the heart of corporate efforts to reduce it. But why do many businesses find ESG implementation to be such a challenge, and how can they not only get started with it but also embed sustainable ESG practices long term to ensure these important trends aren’t just a fad?  Carbon credits and marketplaces have emerged as one powerful possibility to address accountability and transparency in not only offsetting, but reducing carbon from the atmosphere - a necessity according to many climate scientists. In this week's episode, we speak with Nameer Khan, chairman of the MENA (Middle East & North Africa) Fintech Association and founder of Fils - a fintech API and carbon marketplace connecting carbon credit suppliers with high-capital institutional buyers. We discuss how carbon marketplaces work, and why they an important and increasingly popular option for consumers and businesses to take action towards preventing the climate crisis. We also cover the important emerging role that blockchain and digital assets can play in these marketplaces and why they are the perfect fit to assure data integrity, permanence and transparency. We also cover the biggest learnings, insights & takeaways for organizations from the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, Cop28, in Dubai where Nameer was a featured guest and speaker.

This week, in a window of ~60 hours, policy will be set for 60% of the global economy. Gear up for the last important week of the year when the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and Bank of England set policy on Wednesday and Thursday. Convera global macro strategist, Boris Kovacevic, breaks down the possibilities ahead, with an eye on what the macro data is telling us. We cover: How many basis points the ECB, Fed and BoE might cut rates next year. Why investors are expecting all central banks to push back against aggressive easing bets until the meetings early next year. The single most important thing or data point that Boris is looking out for at the three meetings. And much more Disclaimer: Converge is Convera’s new podcast that discusses a range of financial services topics. We want to remind our listeners that the information shared on this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Please note that the opinions expressed on Converge are solely the opinions of the host and the guests, not Convera’s.

In October, the CFPB proposed a rule that would accelerate a shift toward open banking, giving consumers more control over their data and bolstering competition for banks and fintechs to up their game. Plaid, the open banking pioneer that seamlessly connects fintechs and services with banks, has been a key player in this evolution. And now that income and employment data is much more integrated into Plaid services, the company believes a new era with even less friction and greater protection has arrived. Hear from John Pitts, Head of Policy at Plaid and former CFPB employee, as he discusses these exciting advancements as well as potential hurdles ahead in the open banking revolution, the inevitable (healthy) tension between governments and fintechs, the promise of both retail and wholesale real time payments, and the latest developments at Plaid as they further solidify their role in a more open era of banking.

We're kicking off our new bi-weekly market and macroeconomic update series with a bang. Hear from Global Macro Analyst Boris Kovacevic on why November is shaping up to be the best month for risk assets this year as investors have priced in expectations for a major central bank pivot. In our latest global macro podcast, we distill the recent market moves and set out our thesis for why we are anticipating a macro interest rate regime shift going into 2024. We'll cover: 1. The incoming macro interest rate regime shift 2. Why the dollar is on track for its best month this year 3. Why US bonds are set to surge the most since 2008 4. Why markets may be priced for a soft landing and Fed rate cuts Disclaimer: Converge is Convera’s new podcast that discusses a range of financial services topics. We want to remind our listeners that the information shared on this podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Please note that the opinions expressed on Converge are solely the opinions of the host and the guests, not Convera’s.