FinTech Atlanta’s fifth “Run it by the Buyers” event focused on a particularly hot topic – Financial Inclusion and Wellness. As befitting such a top-of-mind issue, the session drew an even larger working group than usual to the offices of Atlantic Capital Bank in Buckhead.
Run it by the Buyers events, organized by FinTech Atlanta’s Fund & Innovate workgroup, convene large Georgia-based corporations and early/mid-stage fintech companies around a particular industry theme. The stated intent is to focus on key industry issues, opportunities, and challenges, with the goal of fostering commercial collaboration between large corporations (“Buyers”) and promising young fintech companies building innovative new products, solutions, and services (“Sellers”). Background on prior sessions can be found here.
An impressive group of seven young local companies presented in their role as Sellers – interestingly, each company had a unique yet holistic perspective on improving consumer financial health. Many of these companies offer their products/solutions through employers as part of an overall benefits package. Each aims to address a need that impacts the majority of American families.
- Funding University – Provides no co-signer loans for college students, addressing a common funding gap in cases where parents cannot/will not co-sign student loans.
- Purchasing Power – Enables payroll deduction installment payments for the purchase of goods/services, without regard to credit eligibility or credit scores.
- Medxoom – A healthcare marketplace integrating medical services, insurance, and payments with a focus on lowering costs. The middle class segment is increasingly eschewing health care due to high costs.
- Immediate – Offers early access to earned wages with a focus on improving cash flow and better managing income/expense timing, negating the need for borrowing from payday lenders.
- Steady – Helps with job searches (part-time, flexible work, gig economy) and financial planning, assisting the growing cohort of Americans holding multiple jobs.
- CapWay – Mobile banking and debit card services for underserved population segments combined with a financial literacy component. Underserved Millennials represent a large customer group.
- SmartPath – A human financial advisor for the middle class with an emphasis on budgeting and financial wellness. Financial stress is a growing and acute national issue.
Further information on these innovative young Georgia companies can be found on TAG’s FinTech Ecosystem Map.
Nine prominent Georgia area corporations extending well beyond the financial services vertical participated in their role as Buyers.
- InComm
- Global Payments
- Invesco
- Fiserv
- Comcast
- Regions Bank
- SunTrust
- UPS
- US Bank
FinTech Atlanta is a coalition of companies (from Fortune 500s to startups) and other organizations working to cement Atlanta as the recognized global capital of financial technology. The group’s priorities are to fund and fuel efforts to RECRUIT, RETAIN, and EXPAND businesses and jobs across the FinTech ecosystem in metro Atlanta and the State of Georgia. For information on future Run It By the Buyers events, contact Kristina Morris of FinTech Atlanta at kmorris@fintechatlanta.com.
The Fund & Innovate Work Group is co-led by Steve Hassett, President, GT Software; Chris Stanley, SVP of FinTech Industry Banking, Atlantic Capital Bank;, and Ali Raza, SVP – US Region, FSS Technologies, Inc.
