Live Oak and First Data open up to digital banking with Apiture JV
Apiture, it isn’t science, it’s digital banking
International paytech firm First Data and a bank in North Carolina, Live Oak, have partnered to form a new digital banking joint venture (JV) called Apiture.
The start-up aims to help community banks compete with the industry heavyweights like Bank of America. Live Oak’s president, Neil Underwood, comments that the top five financial institutions in the US “have teams of hundreds that are on their development sites”. Apiture, he says, “will allow other banks to acquire industry-leading technology to better compete with those large companies”.
Apiture will combine Live Oak’s cloud-based digital banking platforms, products and services and First Data’s digital banking solutions. The company will be based in Wilmington, North Carolina.
It will offer banking solutions including online and mobile platforms for consumers and businesses to manage bill payments, balance inquiries, fund transfers and mobile cheque deposits.
Last year, First Data introduced “Digital Banking Reimagined”, an initiative that evaluated the way consumers interact with their finances.
After more than 18 months of research and development, the company launched a new digital banking user interface (UI) to manage money in a mobile-focused way. This will continue under the JV.
