ING appoints ex-Google and Confused.com exec as Yolt CEO
Yolt, a fintech venture spun out of ING’s Netherlands-based bank, welcomes a new CEO.
Nicolas Weng Kan will head up both arms of the start-up. These include its consumer smart money app Yolt, and its open banking provider, Yolt Technology Services (YTS).
Nicolas Weng Kan
ING says 2017-founded Yolt serves 1.5 million registered users, whilst YTS has made more than 800 million application programme interface (API) calls to date. That’s 22 million API calls a week.
Google and Confused.com
Weng Kan led Google’s attempt to edge into the insurance market in 2015, which was promptly abandoned just a year later.
Google Compare offered online comparison shopping for a variety of financial products including insurance in the US and UK.
Just a few months before its closure, the US Big Tech’s insurance venture quietly separated from Compare.com, one if its biggest partners.
Weng Kan had previously served as CEO of Compare.com between 2012 and 2013. Before that, he was head of operations for UK insurer, Admiral, for six and a half years.
After Google Compare shut in March 2016, Weng Kan became a project manager director for Google’s display video adverts – a post he left in February this year.
Start-up ventures
As well as holding executive roles at major firms, Weng Kan has also led three start-ups in his time.
These include Quicknote, a 10-second insurance quote generator, Motormate, a data-driven discount app, and ONEZERO-ME, which provides digital credit and risk scoring.
Born in Madagascar, Yolt’s new CEO completed his education in France. He has held roles in the UK, Taiwan, Japan and China.
“Now, perhaps more than ever, is when open banking adoption is likely to have a transformative impact,” says Weng Kan.
“Whether that’s delivered through innovative money apps like Yolt or as a service to companies looking to bring new solutions to market quickly and efficiently.”
Read next: Leon Muis of YTS: “Open banking paves the way for open finance & open data”
