Author: Ingo Payments

Reinventing Account Funding with Ingo Payments & Sardine: From Slow and Risky to Instant and Safe

Reinventing Account Funding with Ingo Payments & Sardine: From Slow and Risky to Instant and Safe

November 6, 2024 By Ingo Payments

In today’s highly competitive financial landscape, acquiring new customers is no longer the only hurdle for account issuers. The real challenge lies in making newly opened accounts useful and accessible from the moment of acquisition.   While customer onboarding is often instantaneous, funding remains a bottleneck, with slow and risky methods like checks and ACH causing days-long delays in funds availability. As a result, a large percentage of accounts are opened but never funded, significantly driving up acquisition costs without delivering value. This disconnect between account creation and funding leaves issuers struggling to activate and engage new customers, ultimately missing opportunities to maximize the potential of newly acquired accounts.  However, a broader transformation of account funding is underway. Innovations like digital transfers from bank accounts, debit card transactions, and check deposits are shifting the process from slow and risky to instant and risk-managed, making account funding faster, safer, and more reliable for both issuers and their customers.  Instant Access: Innovations in Digital Account Funding  The modern fintech era has introduced instant account funding, enabling customers to move money into their accounts in real time, using digital payment rails to provide immediate access to deposited funds. Customers can now instantly fund their accounts via digital transfers from bank accounts, cards, or check transactions, making account creation not only fast but immediately useful.   Among the newer innovations is instant card funding using Account Funding Transactions (AFT). These transactions, initiated by the cardholder’s bank via Visa Direct or Mastercard Send, allow customers to pull funds directly from a debit or credit card into a new or existing account. Although AFT is still relatively new, its growing adoption is transforming how funds move between accounts, offering faster, more efficient transfers for both issuers and customers.  The Challenges: Fraud Risks in Digital Account Funding  While digital account funding brings significant benefits, it also comes with risks—most notably fraud. Instant transactions provide less time for issuers to review and mitigate risks, while ACH transfers impose risks due to lengthy return cycles. Types of fraud associated with digital account funding include:  Friendly Fraud: This occurs when a consumer initiates a legitimate transaction to fund their account—such as using a debit or credit card to transfer money into their fintech or bank account—but later disputes the transaction with their card issuer, claiming it was unauthorized or a mistake.  Account Takeover Fraud: Hackers gain access to a consumer’s account and initiate unauthorized transactions.  Card-not-present (CNP) Fraud: In digital card transactions where the physical card isn’t presented, fraudsters use stolen card details to fund accounts instantly.  In the U.S., consumers may have up to 90 days to dispute an unauthorized electronic funds transfer. This consumer protection, while crucial, adds significant risk for issuers. Even after funds have been made available instantly, consumers can file a dispute, forcing issuers to investigate the claim and potentially refund the money. This can lead to losses for account issuers, especially in cases of friendly fraud where the transaction was initially authorized by the consumer.  The Impact of Fraud on Account Issuers  Due to the heightened risk of fraud, many issuers have scaled back or discontinued their offerings of instant funding. The potential for significant losses, coupled with regulatory obligations to address disputes, has made it a risky endeavor. As a result, despite strong consumer demand for fast and accessible funds, some issuers have been cautious in adopting or expanding their instant funding solutions.  Ingo & Sardine’s Risk-Managed Solutions for Instant Card & ACH Funding  To address the challenges posed by account funding fraud, Ingo has partnered with Sardine to offer instant account funding via card and ACH, jointly providing the technology, processing, and protection necessary to drive account usage. This unique offering leverages our collective expertise and databases to manage risk across our network of clients and customers.  Our solution combines the power of Ingo’s and Sardine’s extensive network-wide fraud data and AI-driven analysis to generate real-time risk scores. These scores empower issuers to make fast, informed decisions on funding eligibility, while minimizing exposure to fraudulent transactions. Together, our advanced risk models continuously evaluate transactions for fraud indicators, providing issuers with immediate insights into the risk profile of each transaction.  Additionally, Ingo’s dedicated support team monitors all transactions in real time, adding another layer of protection against instant fraud. This live risk management allows us to catch fraudulent activities as they happen, further safeguarding businesses from potential threats.  By identifying fraud risks, protecting against them, and locking out bad actors, Ingo and Sardine ensure a safer, more efficient account funding process that benefits both issuers and customers.  Zero-Liability Fraud Guarantee  Beyond fraud detection and risk scoring, our offering includes an optional zero-liability fraud guarantee. Account issuers who choose this guarantee option are fully protected from any financial losses caused by fraudulent chargebacks or disputes. This means that if a fraudulent transaction bypasses our detection systems, we take full responsibility for the chargeback, relieving issuers of any liability. This level of protection is rare in the market and offers peace of mind for issuers looking to offer account funding without the risk.  With Ingo Payments and Sardine, account issuers can offer faster, safer, and more secure account funding options. For Fintechs, our solutions mitigate risk while enabling exceptional customer experiences. For traditional banks, they provide seamless onboarding and instant funding, keeping them relevant in the digital landscape. These innovations enhance services and protect issuers’ bottom line in a competitive market. Learn More   Looking for account funding solutions with comprehensive risk management and guaranteed fraud protection across all funding sources—card transfers, bank transfers, and checks? Ingo Payments can help.
Ingo Payments and Sardine Launch Risk-Managed Instant Account Funding, Backed by Zero-Liability Fraud Guarantee

Ingo Payments and Sardine Launch Risk-Managed Instant Account Funding, Backed by Zero-Liability Fraud Guarantee 

October 23, 2024 By Ingo Payments

ALPHARETTA, Ga.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Ingo Payments, a trusted leader in account funding and disbursement solutions defined as money mobility, and Sardine, the leader in real-time fraud prevention, today announced a new partnership to offer instant, risk-managed account funding via card and ACH, backed by an optional zero-liability fraud guarantee. This, combined with Ingo’s industry-leading inbound check funding solution, provides issuers with a complete solution for fast, secure account funding across all three critical form factors: check, card, and ACH.  In today’s financial landscape, issuers face the dual challenge of preventing fraud while ensuring that new accounts are funded and valuable from the start. Despite streamlined onboarding, traditional funding methods such as ACH are slow and prone to risk, often resulting in unfunded accounts and higher acquisition costs. Card funding, while faster, has been found to be highly vulnerable to fraud, causing many issuers to scale back or discontinue these options.  The Ingo Payments and Sardine partnership addresses these issues by offering instant card and ACH funding, supported by real-time risk management that detects and prevents fraud before it impacts issuers. By combining Ingo’s and Sardine’s extensive network-wide fraud data and AI-driven analysis, the solution generates real-time risk scores, empowering issuers to make fast, informed decisions on funding eligibility while minimizing exposure to fraudulent transactions. The optional zero-liability fraud guarantee ensures issuers are fully protected from any fraud-related losses.  “With this partnership, we’re offering issuers more than just fast funding,” said Drew Edwards, CEO of Ingo Payments. “By combining our collective expertise, fraud data, and technology, we’re integrating real-time risk management with a zero-liability fraud guarantee, delivering a secure solution that enables issuers to engage customers instantly, mitigating concerns over fraud-related losses.”   “At Sardine, we make sure fraud prevention happens before a transaction is even completed, using real-time data and machine learning to stay ahead of the game. This partnership gives issuers a solution that not only speeds up funding but adapts intelligently to new fraud tactics, so they can move fast without worrying about risk,” said Soups Ranjan, CEO of Sardine.  Ingo Payments and Sardine help issuers overcome the challenge of unfunded accounts, reduce acquisition costs, and drive greater customer engagement by offering instant, secure, and risk-managed funding options from day one. The solution is now commercially available.  About Ingo Payments  Ingo Payments enables banks, fintechs, and enterprise brands to deliver innovative financial experiences through its bank-grade, compliance-first embedded finance platform. Complete with money mobility capabilities, built on top of a modern money stack, the platform provides the foundation for account funding, transfers, mobile deposits, payouts, digital wallets, bank account creation, card issuing, PFM, and rewards solutions across a wide range of industries and use cases. By vertically integrating issuing, payment processing, and risk underwriting services, we help clients reduce third-party risk, operational complexity, and costs, while accelerating time to market. Learn more at ingopayments.com.  About Sardine  Sardine’s real-time fraud prevention and compliance platform is trusted by leading companies in financial services and ecommerce. We apply device intelligence, behavior biometrics, and machine learning to protect every step of the customer journey – from onboarding to payments and logins. Sardine enables hundreds of organizations worldwide to rapidly detect and stop identity fraud, payment fraud, account takeovers, social engineering scams, fraud rings, money laundering and advanced bot attacks. Backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Visa, Experian, FIS, and Google Ventures, Sardine is a proven leader in the fight against financial crime. Learn more at sardine.ai.  Contact Sarah Higginssarah@ingopayments.com
Ingo Payments + Deposits

Ingo Payments Acquires Deposits Inc., Redefining Money Mobility for Banks and Corporates with the Launch of Its Modern Money Stack

September 5, 2024 By Ingo Payments

Ingo Payments, a trusted leader in account funding and disbursements solutions defined as Money Mobility, announced its acquisition of Deposits Inc., a provider of modern banking software tools and infrastructure. This acquisition accelerates the launch of its Modern Money Stack, which will enable banks, fintechs and brands to transform money flows into full, feature-rich accounts that foster new relationships, revenue streams, and utility, delivered in a modern, modular, compliant and cost-efficient way. In 2023, 85% of new accounts were opened with digital-only banks, and 75% of traditional banks sought capabilities beyond their legacy core systems. Meanwhile, non-financial companies and fintechs are striving to embed financial products into their customer experiences. The surge in demand for embedded financial services, coupled with a challenging regulatory environment, highlights the critical need for modernized banking and payments infrastructure, purpose-built to safely power financial innovation. Founded 23 years ago in partnership with a traditional bank, Ingo operated twelve bank branches serving the underserved Latino population in Atlanta. This history is part of Ingo’s long track record of enabling financial institutions to innovate in financial services, compliance, and risk management. Today, leveraging its Money Mobility platform, the company manages operational compliance and processes billions of dollars in money flows annually for some of the country’s largest enterprises and banks across highly regulated industries, including banking, fintech, lending, insurance, trucking, hospitality, and gaming – all enhanced by its innovative fraud risk, underwriting and guarantee services. With its acquisition of Deposits, Ingo has created a modern, modular, bank-grade, end-to-end platform that connects money in and money out through its Modern Money Stack. This stack includes a processor-agnostic side core and the tools necessary for banks to confidently meet regulatory obligations, reduce third- and fourth-party risk, and offer modern financial services to their customers. Underpinned by a bank-grade ledger, it provides banks with visibility into real-time account balances and provides control over customer onboarding workflows, issued accounts, payments orchestration, velocity and fraud controls, sanctions screening and customer relationship management. For financial services innovators, it reduces operational complexity and cost, and offers no code, low code, API, SDK, SSO and custom SaaS integrations supporting an array of account issuing, money mobility and user experience features. “With Deposits Inc.’s innovative software tools and banking infrastructure now integrated into Ingo’s platform, we are uniquely positioned to offer a vertically integrated solution that combines issuing, compliance, risk, and money mobility capabilities under one roof,” said Joseph Akintolayo, CEO of Deposits Inc. “This partnership is the next logical step in our vision of empowering institutions with the technology they need to not just manage transactions, but to create meaningful, lasting relationships with their customers.” “The future of payments is about turning transactions into relationships that impact overall economics, money flows and customer experiences. The launch of our Modern Money Stack enables banks and enterprises to manage complex, multilayered payment flows and, optionally, turn a payment into an account or wallet–powered by our proprietary money mobility capabilities–that becomes the basis for a relationship and a broader ecosystem, adding value to both the issuer and the account holder,” said Drew Edwards, CEO of Ingo. Ingo Payments’ acquisition of Deposits Inc. closed on August 30, 2024. Waller Helms Advisors acted as exclusive financial advisor to Deposits, Inc. About Ingo Payments Ingo Payments, an Ingo Money Inc. brand, enables banks, fintechs and brands to build, launch, and scale innovative financial experiences through its bank-grade, compliance-first end-to-end platform, complete with money mobility capabilities built on top of a modern money stack, that provides the foundation for account funding, mobile deposits, payouts, digital wallets, bank account creation, card issuing, PFM, and rewards solutions across a wide range of industries and use cases. By vertically integrating issuing, payment processing, and risk underwriting services, we help clients reduce third-party risk, operational complexity, and cost, while accelerating time to market. Learn more at ingopayments.com. About Deposits Inc. Deposits Inc., founded by Joseph Akintolayo in 2021, is a pioneering fintech company providing modern banking software and infrastructure. With a mission to democratize access to modern financial services, Deposits Inc. offers a suite of modular, API-driven solutions that enables banks and organizations of all sizes to rapidly build and deploy customized financial products and deliver exceptional financial experiences through its flexible, scalable technology platform. For more information, visit deposits.inc.
Transforming Travel & Tourism Tech with the Power of Instant Payouts

Transforming Travel & Tourism Tech with the Power of Instant Payouts

June 13, 2024 By Ingo Payments

Technology within the travel and tourism industry is evolving rapidly, driven by innovations that enhance customer experience and operational efficiency. One area that still faces significant challenges is the speed and transparency of financial transactions. From customer refunds to employee payouts and vendor payments, the traditional methods in place, such as cash tips, ACH transfers, and even paper checks, are slow and inefficient. This creates a need for better, more instant payout solutions, and an opportunity for the industry to transform its financial operations with cutting-edge technology. The Challenges of Traditional Payment Methods: Popular Use Cases Before diving into ways in which digital payouts can level-up a businesses’ approach to payments, let’s walk through some of the most popular use cases in which outdated payment methods are creating bottlenecks or inefficiencies. Customer Refunds Travel industry customers often need to be refunded for charges or reservation holds on their accounts. Currently, the refund process uses an ACH transfer and can take anywhere from 5-7 business days, and in some cases, up to two weeks, leading to customer frustration and lowering overall satisfaction. This delay is exacerbated if the customer’s card on file has expired, necessitating a manual check to be mailed, which is both time-consuming and risky. Employee Tip Payouts The reliance on ACH payments and scheduled payroll dates for employee tip payouts is another frustrating bottleneck. As customers are opting for cashless tipping and can now pre-pay tips, tip on site, or send a tip from a targeted follow up email, these electronic methods can lead to payout delays, especially for tipped employees who once relied on day-of cash payments. Vendor Payments It is not uncommon for tour operators to manually deliver checks to hotels to pay commissions. When reservation platforms handle these transfers, they often charge facilitation fees as high as 20% of the ticket price. Instant payment solutions can automate and expedite these transactions, reducing costs and eliminating unnecessary delays. The Opportunity of Instant Payments Considering the delays and inefficiencies of traditional payment methods, instant payments present a real opportunity revitalize and revolutionize payments within the hospitality space, leading to a variety of benefits and applications: Enhanced Customer Experience By integrating instant payout solutions, businesses industry-wide can significantly improve the customer experience, whether they’re working with tipped employees, customers, or vendors. Across all these cases, payments can be processed and delivered in minutes rather than days, alleviating frustration and enhancing loyalty. Improved Operational Efficiency For employees, instant tip payouts mean they receive their earnings immediately, which is especially beneficial for those who live paycheck to paycheck. This not only improves employee satisfaction but also streamlines payroll operations. In fact, companies like Kickfin, in the tipping space, have already implemented instant payouts. Cost-Effective Vendor Payments Automating vendor payments through instant payout solutions can save time and reduce costs. Ingo Payments, for example, facilitates instant, automated payments directly to vendors, eliminating the need for manual check delivery and high facilitation fees. This results in more efficient financial operations and better relationships with vendors. Streamlined Travel Insurance Payouts Travel insurance payouts can also benefit from instant disbursement services. Quick, reliable payouts mean customers receive their insurance funds without unnecessary delays, enhancing their overall experience and trust in the service and creating more opportunities to grow customer loyalty. Boosting Customer Incentives and Rewards Programs Instant payments can boost the effectiveness of loyalty programs and promotional incentives, such as: Loyalty Programs: Funds for loyalty programs or customer rewards can be disbursed instantly, making them readily available for future bookings and enhancing customer engagement. Promotional Incentives: Instant promotional incentives or cashback offers can be credited directly to customers’ accounts, encouraging repeat bookings and increasing customer satisfaction. For the above use cases and more, Ingo Payments offers a PCI-compliant iFrame solution to securely capture and process the payment information, all within a travel operator’s own digital experience. Ingo also offers a fully outsourced payment experience with our white-labeled customer engagement platform. In the full-service scenario, Ingo handles customer notifications on the client’s behalf when a disbursement is ready. The recipient is brought into a secure portal to authenticate, provide their current payment information and choose to receive funds instantly to any account they choose. These integration options ensure that travel tech companies have the flexibility they need to leverage the power of instant payouts. Conclusion The travel and tourism industries stand to gain significantly from the adoption of a suite of instant payout solutions. By addressing the inefficiencies of current payment methods, the industry can enhance financial transparency and speed, benefiting customers, employees, and vendors alike. Many companies throughout the hospitality industry, including companies like 7Shifts, are leading the charge by offering digital payout solutions. Ingo Payments offers the technology and expertise to facilitate these changes, providing a streamlined, efficient solution for the industry’s financial operations, proving that integrating instant payments is not just an upgrade—it’s a transformation that can lead to greater efficiency, lower costs, and higher satisfaction across all stakeholders. As the travel and tourism industries continue to evolve, embracing instant payouts will be a key to staying competitive and delivering superior service across the board.
Instant Disbursements: How to Meet Consumer Demand in an Evolving Market

Instant Disbursements: How to Meet Consumer Demand in an Evolving Market

May 2, 2024 By Ingo Payments

The number of US consumers using instant disbursements is increasing as we recognize the incredible speed and convenience of digital payment options. Our report “Measuring Consumers’ Growing Interest in Instant Payouts,” built in collaboration with PYMNTS Intelligence, sheds light on this trend, leveraging insights gathered from a survey of over 3,800 U.S. consumers to provide insights that we hope will help guide companies towards making adoption of instant a reality. Here are our top five takeaways from the report on meeting consumer demand for money mobility with instant, digital disbursements, and download the whole report here. 1. Consumers prefer Instant Payments Nearly 60% of United States consumers received disbursements from corporate and/or government agencies in the last 12 months. While this figure is marginally lower than it was at this time last year (due to a modest decline in government-issued disbursements) consumers are receiving more disbursements overall—especially instant disbursements, and the trend up is continuing as we get farther into 2024. 2. Lack of Availability Limits Adoption When provided with the option, consumers favor instant digital payments over slower alternatives. The data backs this up: 77% of consumers expressed a distinct preference for instant payments when given the option. However, a lack of widespread availability was cited as a significant hurdle in the widespread adoption of instant payment methods. More availability equals more adoption, which means that the quicker businesses are on the draw, the more likely they are to gain or satisfy customers through an instant payment offering. 3. Willingness to Pay for Instant Payments is Trending Up Convenience and speed are important to consumers and represent a lucrative financial possibility. Our study shows that consumers are increasingly willing to pay a fee for instant payment capability—29% of consumers would be willing to pay a fee to receive payment instantly, up from 26% in the previous year. Millennials, Generation Z and higher-income earners are some of the demographics most inclined to pay for instant payouts, which means this number is likely to grow as younger consumers gain a larger percentage of market share. 4. Security Concerns Are Lessening Security concerns have historically posed a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of instant payments. Historically, though quick and convenient, these types of payments have had a reputation for being susceptible to fraud and identity theft. However, as market technology around security becomes more sophisticated, and more of an emphasis is put on secure transactions, the data suggests a positive shift in consumer sentiment. Specifically, there has been a decrease in the number of consumers expressing data security apprehensions, with 17% fewer individuals citing security risk as a top reason for not choosing instant payouts compared to the peak in 2021. This trend suggests growing confidence in the safety and security of instant payment methods. Conclusion: Digital Payment Adoption is One the Rise As consumer preferences continue to evolve, businesses and financial institutions must adapt to meet the growing chorus of demand for instant payments. Understanding the trends and insights outlined in the report can help inform the why behind this transition to instant, as well as allow for real-time tracking of adoption across different industries. But the bottom line is simple: staying competitive in today’s dynamic market landscape increasingly requires instant payment options. By aligning efforts to match consumer expectations, issuers can enhance customer satisfaction, retain existing customers, and attract new ones. To delve deeper into the findings, find the full report here to explore solutions for meeting consumer demand for instant payouts, connect with an Ingo Payments expert.
Ad Hoc Payments are on a Fast-Track to Growth: Can You Meet the Demand?

Ad Hoc Payments are on a Fast-Track to Growth: Can You Meet the Demand?

May 2, 2024 By Ingo Payments

Ad hoc payments, which are defined as any payment outside of regular invoicing and payroll processes, have long been a strain for enterprise companies to execute for the small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that rely on them. But if your business is interested in cutting the costs of paper checks and delivering a better customer experience, look no further. The rise of real-time payment methods has created an opportunity to streamline and expedite the delivery of ad hoc transactions like never before. Key findings from “Meeting the Demand for Instant Ad Hoc Payments,” our comprehensive report written in partnership with PYMNTS Intelligence, sheds light on this evolving trend towards instant and disbursement choice for ad hoc payments, exploring the use of instant payments for disbursements to SMBs and consumers across five industry segments: hospitality, gaming, trucking/transportation, gig economy and property management. Read on to learn some key stats and takeaways from the report and download the full report here. The Big Picture: Ad Hoc Payments are on the Rise As the market evolves and the demand for gig/ad hoc work continues to expand across industries, senders report that ad hoc accounts payable (AP) payments represent 35% of their overall ad hoc payment transactions. This represents an overall increase from past years. Speaking to specific industries: gig economy companies (such as DoorDash, Instacart, and Uber) make an above-average share of these payments, at 39%, with gaming companies following closely behind, at 37%. The takeaway here is clear: keep your eyes peeled for a further increase in demand for instant in the ad hoc payments space. Instant Payment Offerings Make a Difference to Consumers Instant is on the rise: according to our survey, payers utilized instant rails for over one-third of payments, marking a significant 28% increase in the last quarter alone. Moreover, the share of senders offering instant payment options has increased, with 32% providing instant payments alongside other options, and 12% exclusively utilizing instant methods. Instant methods utilized for ad hoc payments vary by firm size. Among all enterprise senders, push-to-card stands out as the most popular method, with 19% of enterprises opting to send ad hoc payments via debit card transactions to bank accounts. Zelle ranks second, at 8.9%, followed by payment to a bank account via the RTP Network at 4.7%. Larger payers show a preference for real-time payments, indicating a measurable shift in instant payment preferences as sender size increases. But no matter what size the company is, the trend is towards increased offerings of instant payment options across the market, and these increases being met with enthusiasm by consumers. Cost Concerns Are Diminishing While costs have historically been a barrier to instant payment adoption amount senders, these concerns appear to be dwindling. Only 9.4% of senders cite cost as their top challenge in ad hoc instant payment adoption, down from 22% in the previous quarter. Instead, factors like difficulty correcting payment errors, money security concerns, and legacy IT infrastructure have come to pose greater challenges. These factors are likely to become less of a concern as enhanced security features and updated software make their way into the market. Automation Drives Adoption in Instant Businesses like making money movement easy. As such, there is a clear correlation between the automation of ad hoc processes and the adoption of instant payment methods, with gaming and gig economy senders, at 73% and 62%, respectively, the most likely to have automated processes for ad hoc payment systems. As more enterprises automate their ad hoc workflows, reducing the barrier to entry and capitalizing on a lesser need for increased headcount and processes, interest in offering instant payment options is expected to rise. Ad Hoc Payments Are Growing, Grow with Them The ad hoc payment landscape is evolving and trending upward, with more enterprise senders embracing instant payments to tackle the issue of delayed paper check payments and strengthen business ties with vendors. This has real market consequence: with that growth it will become more and more apparent that senders who fail to adopt instant payments run the risk of losing business relationships with SMBs. In fact, our report shows that nearly half of them would only do business in future with senders who offer instant payments. To dive deeper into the insights of the study and explore strategies for meeting the demand for ad hoc payments, download our full report today, or contact an Ingo Payments representative to learn how we can revolutionize your ad hoc payment solution.