Synctera, a new solution for partnership banking at scale, today announced the launch of two key services, Synctera Card and Synctera Fraud, to its platform, as well as the signing of Plaid, Feedzai, and Finix as strategic partners.
Synctera Card, which comes on the heels of Synctera's Card API general availability and partnerships with Marqeta and Mastercard in August, enables FinTechs and their sponsor banks to issue debit cards to customers and process debit card transactions. Starting today, the service is fully enabled end-to-end to allow any FinTech to match with the appropriate sponsor bank and quickly bring card products to market.
“As nearly every FinTech needs a debit card program, we knew that offering scalable card issuing and processing capabilities was a key milestone for us,” said Peter Hazlehurst, CEO of Synctera. “We continue to work with trusted, best-in-class partners as we build our platform, grow our marketplace and make it easy for banks and FinTechs to work together.
Card issuing made easy
The ability to issue debit cards is a foundational component of nearly every FinTech application. However, finding a sponsor bank and standing up a card issuing program can be a complex and time-intensive undertaking—in some cases, as long as twelve months. Powered by Marqeta, Synctera Card acts as the FinTech’s single integration point for all card issuing processes, reducing friction and increasing speed to market for card programs.
With Mastercard’s Digital First card program, which is a standard option with Synctera Card, issuing bank information and card credentials are viewed through the FinTech’s app and no longer have to be printed on the card. This means FinTechs can easily add new banking partners without having to implement new card plastic specifications, reducing the operational burden and managing risk as the company grows.
Account verification with Plaid
Synctera also signed a partnership agreement with Plaid, a data network powering the digital financial ecosystem, to streamline ACH payment verification by integrating Plaid’s account and balance verification services into Synctera’s platform. Through the partnership, FinTechs can use the Synctera platform to instantly verify accounts and authorize funds transfers, as well as support fraud detection and enable personal finance management use cases.
Fraud protection with Feedzai
Synctera Fraud protects both the FinTech and the bank with real-time fraud and anti-money laundering (AML) monitoring for all transactions on the Synctera platform, including customizable rules and case reviews. Fraud Monitoring is powered by Feedzai, a market leader in anti-fraud and AML services, and driven by machine learning and AI. Synctera and Feedzai have signed a partnership agreement that will further bring access to Feedzai’s services down market.
“According to our data, fraud is up 159 percent since 2020, creating a major concern for most FinTechs,” said Nuno Sebastiao, Co-founder, and CEO of Feedzai. “Through Feedzai’s partnership with Synctera, we’re excited to be able to further expand our enterprise-grade risk management to FinTechs of all sizes in the U.S.”
Faster account funding with Finix
Synctera and Finix have signed a partnership agreement to integrate Finix’s Account Funding Transactions (AFT) and push-to-card disbursement or Original Credit Transaction (OCT) capabilities into Synctera’s platform. When funding a new debit account, a typical ACH payment can take days. Through its partnership with Finix, Synctera now offers FinTechs alternative options to ACH for rapidly adding or disbursing funds, including transferring funds to or from a customer’s existing debit account.
“Moving money faster—whether funding an account or receiving money—can have a transformative impact on one’s financial well-being. But for far too long, this type of technology has been difficult to access,” said Richie Serna, Finix CEO. “Our partnership with Synctera helps us pursue our mission by creating the most accessible financial services ecosystem in history by making faster funds movement simple and painless.”
This announcement and new offerings come on the heels of Synctera’s addition of CFSB as its fourth sponsor bank, the company’s $33M Series A funding round led by Fin VC and the launch of its Cards API and partnerships with Marqeta and Mastercard, further cementing the company as a leader in the FinTech-as-a-Service and embedded finance space.