Modern Online Banking UI |
2010 |
Simple |
User-friendly intuitive user interface for online banking |
User interface and experience became a key differentiating factor for consumer FinTech |
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No Fee Bank accounts |
2010 |
Simple |
No-fee digital banking |
This led to the trend of zero fee digital bank accounts, which especially benefitted the unbanked,
underbanked, and those with poor credit history/overdrafts. |
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Tap and Pay |
2013 |
Moven |
Tap and pay debit card payment capability in the US |
This was subsequently followed by large companies such as Apple and Google. |
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Budgeting |
2013 |
Moven |
Built-in free consumer budgeting tools |
This enabled the consumers to manage their funds effectively and would immediately let them know if they
were over budget on a given category. |
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Instant Payment |
2014 |
Omney |
Debit network to enable posting of credit into an account using the PAN (card) number as an address. |
Impact was felt immediately by borrowers and other consumers who could get funds disbursed onto their cards
instantly. This company was sold to Mastercard, and the service is now known as Mastercard Send and is now a
mainstream funding service. |
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Wage Advance/Small Dollar Loans |
2017 |
Omney/Dave |
Instant wage advance products that helped the underbanked and low wage consumers with interest free small
dollar advances |
Today tens of millions of consumers are able to access no-interest wage advances and is now a standard
offering , thereby weaning these consumers who potentially would have used payday lenders at much different
rates. |
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Mobile Payments |
2010 |
Boom, iSend |
Mobile originated payments |
This company was sold to Digicel is now operational in other countries enabling millions of workers to
receive remittances in emerging markets. |
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College Savings Gifting |
2012 |
Leaf/Sofi |
CBW partnered with Leaf Savings to offer an alternative to the Savings Bond for college through gifting to
529 plans. |
Leaf Savings was sold to SoFi. Leaf Savings continues to be a leader in enabling savings into 529 Plans.
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Embedded Banking |
2014 |
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CBW partnered with a fintech affiliate to offer embedded banking in 2014 that enabled several applications
including instant wage disbursements. |
Among the first set of APIs with classification and categorization that spurred multiple start-ups and
banks to emulate. |
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Wholesale Cash Deposit Data Collection |
2012 |
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CBW pioneered the requirement of granular data including Teller ID, Client ID, Geographic location for bulk
cash processing in addition to the existing industry standard compliance process. |
This collection of data from foreign banks required regulatory approval in the country of origin and is now
one of the standards for bulk cash processing. Based on CBW's request customer institutions implemented
biometric verification of their clients as a step towards digital identity. |
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Wholesale Cash Deposit Data collection - real time integration |
2019 |
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CBW was among the first to integrate to cash vaults enabling near real time balances. CBW had also tested
reading serial numbers of cash deposited for further review. |
This is now the de-facto standard for cash collection and real time balances. |
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Remote Deposit Capture |
2018 |
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CBW pioneered an approach to reading the entire check including the MICR as opposed to the MICR only, in
combination with an adjunct report that provided the details of the depositor CBW generation additional data
on every check. |
This led to a granular approach to understanding each check as well as understanding the customer and the
customer's customer. Previously the Drawee name could be scribbled and difficult to recognize. The adjunct
report enabled a better approach to compliance and data gathering. This is now evolving into a standard.
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Data & Cybersecurity Enhancements |
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CBW required its customers to submit transaction and customer (where applicable) data signed with digital
signatures in an electronic format to eliminate or reduce data quality issues. |
Clean or Cleaner data enabled CBW to better understand and process data. This is now evolving into a
standard with SWIFT announcing a KYC registry. |
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Operating Lanes |
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CBW pioneered the creation of internal and external operating lanes specific to bank accounts and
customers. This enabled security of payments only to certain approved destinations. Similarly, it enabled
CBW to underwrite risk of customers and restrict them to previously requested lanes thereby mitigating
internal fraud risk. |
These features were typically available only in escrow or trade finance accounts. Now, CBW has extended
these safeguards for ensuring safety both from internal and external fraud. |
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Near-Real Time Risk Management |
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CBW pioneered the data-element tokenization of all data in the payment message as well as its derivatives
and each of those tokens could be risk weighted. This was in addition to the application of the industry
standard AML scenarios and rules. Risk scoring at the time of the transaction (a standard practice in cards
for decades) enabled the institution to address a high-risk issue expediently if required or highlight for
further review post transaction. |
Just as fast cars need brakes and steering, irrevocable RTGS payments need brakes and kill-switches. CBW's
pioneering approach to RTGS pre-dated FEDNOW and RTP, which are now requiring similar real time risk
scoring. TEBA (European Banking Authority) Directive now requires monitoring of real-time triggers - an
approach pioneered by CBW many years prior. |
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Zero-Trust - Cybersecurity |
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CBW implemented the first end to end zero-trust architecture. This ensured that every click was digitally
signed ensuring one of the highest levels of cybersecurity protections. |
The US Govt’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency has published guidelines on Zero Trust Maturity
Model. Another early initiative of CBW is now industry standard. |
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Zero-Trust in Ops |
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CBW pioneered the use of zero trust architecture to track every click thereby ensuring process visibility
and subsequently operational transparency. |
Even tellers and internal administrators could not move customer funds without digital key authorization
thereby nearly eliminating internal fraud. |
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Digital Identity Tokens in API |
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CBW pioneered the use of digital identity tokens in Payment APIs to ensure that payment initiation in case
of Fintechs was always only on behalf authorized and KYC-completed entities or individuals. |
This approach ensured that the Fintechs had to procure a digital identity token that was issued upon
successful KYC approved by the Bank and use that token for every payment initiation thereby ensuring 100%
auditability of all payments, creating a necessary foundation for embedded banking. |
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