The Electronic Transactions Association (ETA) today announced the ten payments technology startups that will participate in the Payments’ NexTen program, sponsored by Worldpay, at TRANSACT, the world’s largest payments technology event, April 30-May 2 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

“The payments industry is at an inflection point of technological revolution, and the entire ecosystem benefits from new and innovative approaches to solving complex problems,” said ETA Interim CEO Amy Zirkle. “ETA is thrilled to partner with Worldpay to bring these leading-edge startups to the epicenter of payments innovation – TRANSACT.”

NexTen participants will pitch their solution to a panel of industry mentors, partake in educational sessions designed for new entrants to the payments industry, and network with peers, investors and corporate leaders at TRANSACT. The startups will receive complimentary registration and exhibit space at the show.

The 2019 Payments’ NexTen participants include:

• Biller Genie: A virtual assistant that automatically sends invoice notices, performs follow-up on past-due invoices, provides access to convenient online payment portals, and reconciles payment activity without the need for human intervention.
• BIM Networks: A platform that enables merchants to connect consumer checking accounts to their apps and website and can be used whenever their customers want to buy goods and services from them.
• DataSeers: A solution that received structured and unstructured data, cleans, ingests, labels and augments the data to prepare it to go through AI and ML algorithms for better results and highly-successful predictability in order to help clients with back-office operations like compliance and fraud detection.
• Everyware Inc.: a pay-by-text solution that allows businesses to send a simple text message with a secure link to click-to-pay with no interaction to complete the payment. Customers can reply with questions or concerns, and Everyware’s conversational payment gateway sends automated text receipts after every purchase to authorize and validate transactions.
• HealPay: SettlementApp software from HealPay uses data to offer the best payment plans to consumers who have debt. HealPay offers a suite of cloud-based apps that enable online payment processing for various sectors.
• Joust: The Joust app combines an FDIC-insured bank account, a merchant account for accepting credit card payments, and the tools to run all financials on one platform.
• Kickfin: A cash management and payments app that provides merchants with access to payments software and IoT hardware. The solution provides immediate access to working capital, reduces loss and theft, increases efficiency and pays employees daily.
• Payclub: Designed to close the gap for highly-tailored banking for Gen Z by building in collaborative tools, Payclub combines personal accounts with unlimited collaborative accounts to help Gen Z consumers manage their collections and spending.
• Pronto CX, Inc.: A smart event platform that combines a ticket, wallet, loyalty/member card, parking pass, sponsor activation, fan engagement, etc. into a single vehicle that can be read over NFC.
• Token Transit: Token Transit is a shared mobility marketplace powered by city governments, providing an online account system for payment for public transit which lets the user verify their payment with an inexpensive IoT device.

The participants were selected for the program from a highly-competitive pool of applicants by a panel of payments executives, entrepreneurs and investors based on their innovative approaches to solving the following critical payments industry challenges identified by Worldpay and ETA:

• Facial Recognition & Biometrics: How can we use biometric technology to validate the cardholder’s identity at the time of payment?
• Internet of Things (IoT): How can we integrate payment systems with IoT-connected devices in order to streamline the payment cycle?
• Data: How can we use existing merchant data (that’s already being collected) to streamline, augment, or otherwise improve the merchant experience?
• Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning: How can we deploy AI and/or machine learning in the payment cycle to automatically validate transactions and make the payment experience as seamless and invisible as possible?
• Contactless Payments: How can we increase adoption of contactless payments in the U.S. market, both on the consumer side and the merchant side?

TRANSACT, happening April 30-May 2 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas, provides 4,000 attendees with a robust exhibit hall with more than 200 exhibitors, extensive networking events, and forward-looking educational sessions on the groundbreaking technologies, trends and policies shaping the payments industry.

SOURCE Electronic Transactions Association (ETA)